Lahore: Seven people, including two children, were injured following firing from across the Afghan border in Kharlachi and Borki near Pakistans Kurram border on Sunday, officials said.
Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Sajid Hussain Turi, condemned the firing while confirming the incident, Dawn reported.
In a statement shared on Twitter, he said: “Afghanistan’s violation of Pakistan’s Kurram border at Kharlachi and Borki and targeting the civilian population is condemnable.”
He called for an immediate ceasefire and said the people of Kurram and the Pakistan Army know well how to “protect their land and befittingly respond to any aggression”.
Turi stressed that aggression and war are not a solution to any problem, adding that Pakistan wants to solve all problems with Afghanistan and other neighbouring countries through dialogue.
The federal minister also said that Afghanistan is a brotherly country and Pakistan wants all “outstanding issues to be resolved through diplomatic channels and dialogue”.
Turi said that land disputes between the people living on both sides of the border should be resolved through bilateral ‘jirga’ and diplomatic channels so that no such incident takes place in the future as it will damage the fraternal and friendly relations between the two countries.
“He said that we have already held jirgas and negotiations with the Afghan government on the land dispute and more negotiations are needed, and the people across the border should not try to unsuccessfully occupy the Pakistani lands of Kharlachi and Borki,” the statement shared on Twitter read, Dawn reported.
Separately, while talking to Dawn.com, he also said that Pakistani forces have conducted retaliatory firing after the Afghan side’s targeting of the local populace.
The military and the Foreign Office have not made a comment on the situation yet.
Meanwhile, local tribal leader Inayat Turi told Dawn.com that clashes first took place on Saturday between local tribes and the Taliban on the Pak-Afghan Borki-Kharlachi border over “illegal constructions” by Afghanistan.
He said a ceasefire has been reached with the cooperation of local leaders, Afghan officials, and Pakistan Army officials. However, he added that clashes took place again on Sunday after the Afghan side resumed work with a pair of excavators at the same place, Dawn reported.
–IANS