Pakistani, Afghan Taliban forces trade fire at Torkham border crossing, killing 3 Afghan civilians

Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces traded cross-border fire near a key northwestern crossing, killing a woman and two children on the Afghan side of the border, officials said Tuesday.

There was no immediate word on casualties on the Pakistani side of the Torkham border which was shut, disrupting trade and movement of people between the two countries, local Pakistani official Zahid Khan said.

Torkham, a key border crossing, is located in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

It was unclear who initiated the attack, though such cross-border fire is common along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Each side has in the past closed Torkham, and also the southwestern Chaman border crossing in Pakistan, for various reasons. Both crossings are vital for trade and travel for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Kabul , Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry , said the clash took place Monday and accused Pakistani forces of targeting civilians.

He said “Pakistani forces opened fire on forces of the Islamic Emirate in the Ghorki area near the Durand line in Torkham area, prompting a response from the Afghan side,.”

He said on the social media platform X that Afghan forces destroyed two Pakistani border posts during the clashes.

Pakistani officials say the two sides were in contact with each other to defuse tensions.

Local officials in Pakistan on Tuesday said thousands of people living near the Torkham border fled and evacuated to safer places on Monday.

Pakistani authorities said trucks carrying perishable items, including vegetables and fruits, were waiting on both sides of the border Tuesday for the reopening of the Torkham crossing.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were withdrawing from the country after 20 years of war. Like the rest of the world, Pakistan has so far not recognized Afghanistan’s Taliban government. The international community has been wary of the Taliban’s harsh measures, imposed since their takeover, especially in restricting the rights of women and minorities.

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Associated Press writer Riaz Khan contributed to this story from Peshawar, Pakistan.