The Afghan Taliban blamed Pakistani soldiers for attempting to construct a post close to the Durand Line for the cross-border shooting on Tuesday.
The Emirate-i-Islamia Afghanistan’s deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, said in a statement on Wednesday that it was against the law to build military facilities or stations near to the Durand Line “as a matter of principle.”
However, he asserted that Pakistani troops tried to construct a post near to the border, and when “some persons from the Emirate-i-Islamia” approached them to explain the situation, “unfortunately, they were fired upon, which resulted in injuries.”
He added that there had been “a subsequent exchange of fire between the two sides that may have resulted in some injuries on the other side as well.”
Following a statement made by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the Pakistani military’s media affairs branch, soon after the incident on Tuesday, Mr. Karimi made his comments.
According to the ISPR, three Pakistani soldiers were shot by “terrorists from inside Afghanistan” in the general vicinity of Kharlachi, Kurram tribal district, and three of them chose martyrdom.
The statement continued, “According to reliable intelligence reports, terrorists incurred severe casualties as a result of [our] own troops’ firing.”
According to the ISPR, Pakistan “strongly condemns the use of Afghan soil for terrorist actions against Pakistan and expects that Afghan government will not let the conduct of such activities in the future.”
On Wednesday, Mr. Karimi stated that the situation was being looked into and that they were in communication with the authorities to prevent future building of posts in the neighbourhood.
