Afghan officials said Sunday that hundreds of shells and rockets have been fired into Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan, hitting homes and killing eight civilians along frontier areas from which insurgents have in the past staged cross-border attacks.
The Afghan government has not yet openly blamed the Pakistani military for the artillery barrage, which reportedly hit districts in the eastern provinces of Nuristan and Kunar.
In the latest reported cross-border violation, nearly 400 rockets and shells were fired into Afghanistan on Saturday and killed at least eight people in Dangam district along the border, according to Kunar provincial police chief Gen. Ewaz Mohammad Naziri.He said those attacks and others in nearby Nuristan had led hundreds of families to flee the area.
The information could not be independently verified because the area is largely off-limits to reporters. Kabul’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said, ”The rocket attacks in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan are not acceptable to us and we are strongly condemning these attacks. We believe that the continuation of such rocket attacks will have a negative impact on the friendly relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Ludin on Sunday summoned Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul to discuss the latest barrage of periodic shelling across the Durand Line, a Foreign Ministry statement said.“Any continuation of such reported shelling against Afghan villages could have a significant negative impact on bilateral relations,” the statement quoted Ludin as telling ambassador Mohammad Sadiq. Both sides agreed to hold a senior-level meeting of military officials soon in Jalalabad over the shelling and improve military coordination along the Durand Line, the statement said. Meanwhile, a Pakistani military official rejected the Afghan allegations. He said the Pakistani troops only fire when they are attacked by militants from the other side of the border.
Kunar and Nuristan are provinces in Afghanistan from where terrorists often attack on Pakistani forces. The Afghan Government has not shown any responsibility so far including the beheading of Pakistani soldiers on their soil. Pakistani forces are on defense. It is the responsibility of the Afghan Government to stop the cross-border terrorism that often comes from Kunar province and attack Pakistani forces. Dr Ahmad Rashid Malik – Islamabad.
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