US calls on Afghanistan, Pakistan to peacefully resolve tension after border clashes

US State Department Spokesman John Kirby on Wednesday urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to reduce tension at the Torkham border.

During a press briefing in Washington, he stated that the US is watching the tensions at Torkham border very closely and are in touch with officials on both sides.

“We obviously don’t want to see clashes; we don’t want to see violence; we don’t want to see it get worse,” he said.

Unprovoked firing by Afghanistan forces is intermittently continuing on the third day and has claimed the life of a Pakistani Army Officer Major Ali Jawad.

Major Ali Jawad lost his life on Tuesday, a day after he was injured in unprovoked Afghanistan firing.

The neighbouring country resorted to coercive methods during construction of a gate at Torkham border which is aimed at keeping a check on cross-border movement in light of different terror attacks across the country by terrorists that entered Pakistan through the route.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the gate at the Torkham border was being constructed at least 37 metres within the country’s territory.

ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa stated that the gate was required to check the documentation and interrogate the ones crossing the border, if necessary.

In the recent past, evidence collected at different targeted sites in Peshawar and other cities suggested terrorists’ movement into Pakistan from Afghanistan.