Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Shelling Kills 7, Wounds At Least 31

 

BBC: Afghanistan-Pakistan border shelling kills civilians 

Afghan Taliban forces killed six civilians in Pakistan and injured at least 17 others in an "unprovoked" bombing and gunfire attack on a border town on Sunday, Pakistan says. 

The attack at Chaman was condemned by Pakistan's military who said the Afghan side launched "indiscriminate fire". 

Pakistan forces retaliated. One Afghan soldier was killed.

It's unclear exactly what sparked the clash at the crossing over the border, which the two sides dispute. 

However, it comes amid a rise in tensions between the neighbouring countries over security issues, since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan last year.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Pakistani media is saying the Afghan government has apologized for yesterday's shelling .... Afghan govt has apologised for shelling at Chaman border, matter now resolved: Khawaja Asif (DAWN). 

More News On Yesterday's Afghan - Pakistan Border Shelling  

Pakistan-Afghanistan Border Clashes Kill 7, Injure 31 -- VOA  

Pakistani army: Afghan forces shell border town, killing 7 -- AP 

Six Pakistanis, one Afghan soldier killed in cross-border clash -- Reuters  

Killings of six civilians and a soldier spark blame game between Pakistan and Afghanistan -- The Independent

Will A Pakistan Chicken-Wire Border Fence To Keep Out Militants From Afghanistan Work?

A view of the border fence outside the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan October 18, 2017. REUTERS/Caren Firouz

Reuters: Pakistan, Afghanistan in angry tangle over chicken-wire border fence to keep out militants

Angoor Adda, PAKISTAN (Reuters) - Pakistan is betting that a pair of nine-foot chicken wire fences topped with barbed wire will stop incursions by Islamist militants from Afghanistan, which opposes Islamabad’s plans for a barrier along the disputed frontier.

Pakistan plans to fence up most of the 2,500 km (1,500 mile) frontier despite Kabul’s protests that the barrier would divide families and friends along the Pashtun tribal belt straddling the colonial-era Durand line drawn up by the British in 1893.

Pakistan’s military estimates that it will need about 56 billion rupees ($532 million) for the project, while there are also plans to build 750 border forts and employ high-tech surveillance systems to prevent militants crossing.

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WNU Editor: If they post guards every 200 or 300 meters to stop those who are trying to cross the border .... it may work. Otherwise .... if this fence is undefended .... the militants will just use wire cutters to get to the other side.

More News On Pakistan's Chicken-Wire Border Fence To Keep Out Militants From Afghanistan

Pakistan says fence on Afghan border will reduce attacks -- Washington Post/AP
Pakistan hails new Afghan border fence to curb militancy -- AFP
Pakistan fortifies border with Afghanistan to reduce cross border attacks -- Pakistan Today

Pakistan And Afghanistan Agree To Settle Their Border Dispute Using Google Maps And GPS

The Guardian: Google Maps to help settle Afghanistan-Pakistan border dispute

Neighbouring countries to carry out geological survey using GPS and Google Maps after deadly clashes in disputed area

Pakistan and Afghanistan plan to use Google Maps to help settle a border dispute that led to deadly clashes last week, officials from both sides have said.

At least eight civilians were killed on both sides in fighting that began when a Pakistani census team accompanied by soldiers visited disputed villages along the southern border on Friday.

Pakistan inherited its 1,500-mile border with its western neighbour when it gained independence from Britain in 1947, but Afghanistan has never formally recognised it.

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More News On Pakistan And Afghanistan Agreeing To Settle Their Border Dispute Using Google Maps And GPS

Pakistan, Afghanistan start joint survey after border clash -- FOX News/AP
Pakistan, Afghanistan to use Google Maps to settle border row -- AFP
Pakistan, Afghanistan to use Google maps to resolve border dispute: Reports -- India.com
Pakistan, Afghanistan to conduct survey at Chaman border to determine boundaries -- Dunya News

Pakistan Has Started To Build A Border Fence With Afghanistan

FOX News: Pakistan starts building its own border fence

As the United States and many European nations try to stem the flow of violence across their borders, one country on the doorstep of one of the planet's most dangerous terror hotbeds has just broken ground on a fence of its own.

Pakistan announced over the weekend it started building a fence along the Afghan border in areas where terrorists have launched cross-border attacks -- regions the Pakistani army called "high threat zones."

Read more ....

More News On Pakistan Starting To Build A Border Fence With Afghanistan

Pakistan building border fence with Afghanistan: officials -- AFP
Pakistan says starts fencing Afghanistan border in 'high-threat zones' -- Reuters
Pakistan to build fence along disputed Afghan border -- DW
Pakistan starts building fence along Afghanistan border -- Al Jazeera
Pakistan Has Started Fencing Off Its Border With Afghanistan -- TIME
Pakistan Starts Building Fence Along Afghan Border -- RFE

Pakistan And Afghanistan Fail To Reach A Border Deal After Deadly Clashes

A Pakistani soldier stands guard as a truck enters Pakistan from Afghanistan at the border crossing in Torkham on June 18, 2016. (AFP photo)

Reuters: Pakistan, Afghanistan fail to reach border deal after deadly clashes

Pakistan and Afghanistan failed to reach an agreement on border management in talks on Monday, officials said, after days of clashes at the border last week left four dead and thousands stranded.

Fighting broke out when Pakistan started building a barrier at the crossing to stop Islamist militants crossing over from Afghanistan.

That plan angered Afghanistan, which rejects the colonial-era Durand Line border drawn up in 1893 and objects to Pakistan building checkpoints along the disputed boundary.

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Update: Pakistan Afghanistan Discuss Border Tensions After Clashes (AP)

WNU Editor: This failure to resolve their differences will probably result in more of this .... Border Clashes Between Afghanistan - Pakistan Continue After A Ceasefire Has Been Agreed Upon (June 13, 2016).

Afghan - Pakistan Border Clashes Continue

VOA: Pakistan, Afghanistan Agree to Cease-fire After Deadly Border Clashes

ISLAMABAD Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed late on Wednesday to observe a cease-fire after days of deadly border skirmishes that left four soldiers dead and wounded more than 40 people, including civilians, on both sides.

Afghan and Pakistani security forces from both sides are said to have raised white flags, a common means to show surrender. The clashes occurred at the busy Torkham border crossing.

“It has been agreed but hope it holds,” Hazrat Omer Zakhilwal, Afghan ambassador to Islamabad, told VOA when it was announced a cease-fire has been agreed to. He shared no other details.

Read more ....

More News On The Continuing Afghan - Pakistan Border Clashes

Pakistan, Afghan official in talks to ease border tensions -- AP
Truck queues back up after fighting closes Afghan-Pakistan border -- Reuters
More Gunfire at Pakistan-Afghan Border, Afghan Guard Killed -- AP
Border guard killed in Pakistan-Afghanistan clashes -- Al Jazeera
Afghans ready to fight Pakistan as tensions mount -- Stars and Stripes
Exclusive: Torkham clashes are Pakistan's diversion strategy, says ex-Afghan intelligence chief -- First Post
Coalition Concerned Over Afghanistan, Pakistan Border Clashes -- VOA

Border Clashes Between Afghanistan - Pakistan Continue After A Ceasefire Has Been Agreed Upon

Men walk near a road sign showing the distance to cities in Afghanistan, as trucks drive past in the northwest town of Torkham, at the border crossing to Pakistan, July 4, 2012.

VOA: Border Clashes Between Pakistan and Afghanistan Resume After Brief Cease-Fire

ISLAMABAD — Border clashes have resumed between security forces of Pakistan and Afghanistan after a short-lived ceasefire on Monday, officials said.

Overnight skirmishes killed at least one person wounded 18 others, according to officials, forcing around 200 Pakistani families to relocate to safer areas.

"Pakistan wanted to build new installations and Afghan border forces didn't allow it. Pakistan went further and fired towards Afghan forces,” Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah told a meeting of ministers in Kabul.

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More News On Border Clashes Between Afghan And Pakistani Border Guards At The Khyber Pass Border

Gunfire Exchange at Afghan-Pakistan Border Crossing Kills 1 -- AP
Pakistan, Afghan soldiers clash at Khyber Pass border: officials -- Reuters
Casualties After Pakistani, Afghan Soldiers Clash On Border -- RFE
Afghan soldier killed in border clash with Pakistan -- Al Jazeera
Afghan and Pakistani border guards clash in Torkham -- Khaama Press
Pakistan, Afghanistan Exchange Fire at Torkham Border Crossing -- The Diplomat

Disagreements Between Afghanistan And Pakistan Over Their Disputed Border Are Increasing

A Pashtun man passes a road sign while pulling supplies towards the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing.Reuters

Afghanistan-Pakistan Border: Back To Politics As Usual? -- Jerry Meyerle, The Diplomat

The risks of conflict and collapse post-2014 are significant, but disaster is not inevitable.

As the U.S. draws down its forces in Afghanistan, disagreements between Afghanistan and Pakistan over their disputed border are again coming to the fore. Over a decade of intense U.S. involvement has shaped the region according to priorities set in Washington. Long-festering regional issues were pushed into the background in favor of combatting al Qaeda and the Taliban.

The insurgency, which spans both countries, is becoming an increasingly bilateral problem – a trend that is likely to continue as the U.S. pulls back from southwest Asia, leaving the region’s leaders to deal with the Taliban threat amongst themselves. Policymakers in Islamabad and Kabul are beginning to forge closer ties as U.S. involvement steadily declines and the shadow of further reductions in Western funding and force levels looms large.

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My Comment: These border differences have been around for generations .... and I suspect that a hundred years from now the same differences and disagreements will be present.

Heavy Clashes Between Afghan And Pakistani Troops On The Border

Pakistan, Afghan Forces In High-Stakes Clash Along Border -- Reuters

(Reuters) - An Afghan border policeman was killed and two Pakistani soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire along the border late on Wednesday, officials from both countries said, in a clash likely to unsettle already troubled ties between the neighbors.

A senior Afghan official said hundreds of additional Afghan troops had been sent to the disputed Gursal border gate after the exchange of fire, which lasted for more than two hours.

The stakes are high. The United States wants Pakistan to help Afghanistan to coax the Taliban to the negotiating table ahead of the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops by the end of 2014.

But relations between the South Asian neighbors have been marked for decades by distrust and outbreaks of fighting.

Read more ....

More News ON Today's Border Clash Between Afghan And Pakistani Soldiers

Afghan, Pakistani Troops Clash At Disputed Border -- Radio Free Europe
Official says Afghan policeman killed in border clash; Pakistan blames Afghans -- Washington Post/AP
Afghan police officer killed in border clash with Pakistanis -- Washington Post
Afghan policeman killed in Pakistan border clash -- Miami Herald/AP
Afghan Policeman Killed in Clash Along Disputed Pakistan Border -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Afghan Guard Dies in Pakistan Border Clash -- Voice of America
Deadly clash between Afghan, Pakistani troops -- Stars and Stripes
Afghan border guard dies in Pakistan clashes -- Al Jazeera
Heavy clashes between Afghan and Pakistani troops in Goshta -- Khaama Press
Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over border clash -- DAWN
Clash on Pakistan Border Stirs Afghan Emotions -- New York Times

The Pakistan - Afghanistan Border Starts To Heat Up

Afghanistan threatened to mount cross-border raids into Pakistan when President Hamid Karzai insisted on his country's right to "self defence".

President Hamid Karzai

From The Telegraph:

Leaders of the Taliban insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan are known to be based in the lawless Tribal Areas inside Pakistani territory and along the country's north-west frontier. The self-proclaimed leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, has publicly ordered his followers to cross the border and attack Nato forces inside Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai said Afghanistan had every right to respond. "When they cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and to kill coalition troops it gives us the right to go back and do the same."

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News On Afghanistan From Other Sources:
Karzai Threatens to Send Soldiers Into Pakistan -- New York Times
President Karzai in terror warning -- Times Online
Karzai threatens to send forces into Pakistan -- Washington Post
Karzai threat seen as pressure tactic in Pakistan -- Reuters
Afghan prison attack stirs tensions with Pakistan -- Christian Science monitor
Afghans support threat to target Taliban havens -- Washington Times
Gordon Brown to raise British troop numbers in Afghanistan to highest level yet -- The Telegraph
Taliban fighters take over several Afghan villages -- Washington Times
Army secures its gains after Taliban supply route seized -- The Telegraph
A Sober Assessment of Afghanistan -- Washington Post

My Comment: In the blogosphere, the post that got my attention was from Prairie Pundit. I agree with what he says. Quoting ....

There are other indications that Pakistan is starting to feel pressure from outside the country over its deals with the Taliban. Jackson Diehl reports on a conversation with a Pakistan envoy to Washington.

...

I asked Haqqani if he and his new ministers in Islamabad had thought about what would happen to Pakistan and its newly reborn democracy if a major al-Qaeda attack against the United States succeeded and was traced back to the tribal areas. "What do you think keeps me up at night?" he answered. "We want to make sure that it doesn't come to that." Then he was off to the next stop on his tour, and his next plea for patience.

Actually the US has been pretty patient with Pakistan considering the mass murderer we want most is still hiding there. Pakistan needs to explain how its deals with the Taliban will lead to his capture and stop the attacks in Afghanistan. That is probably too tall an order for this government.