A gun battle between Pakistani and Afghan border forces resulted in injuries to at least two individuals, including a Frontier Corps (FC) official. This clash led to the closure of the busiest trade crossing between the two nations at Torkham.
Pakistani officials placed blame on the Afghan side for initiating the firefight, which lasted approximately two hours. The incident occurred after Afghan authorities began constructing a checkpoint in a prohibited area on their side, close to the primary border crossing.
Afghanistan already had a checkpoint known as the Larram Post in the vicinity. However, they started building an additional post on a small hill without prior consultation with the Pakistani authorities.
Border security officials reportedly convened a meeting just before the exchange of gunfire. However, the agenda of the meeting and the specific trigger for the gunfire remained unclear.
Aside from the injured FC official, a Customs clearing agent was critically wounded when struck by a fast-moving vehicle while attempting to retreat to safety once the firing began.
According to Jamshed Khan, a Customs agent at Torkham, panic ensued among clearing agents, transporters, and civilians near the Torkham border crossing as they fled for cover when the gunfire erupted. The origin of the initial gunfire remained uncertain, with Khan describing the sequence as starting with small arms fire and then escalating to heavy weaponry from both sides.
Sabir Khan, a resident of the Bacha Maina residential compound near the border, stated that people had relocated their families to safer areas in Landi Kotal when projectiles fired from the Afghan side landed inside some homes. These projectiles caused minor damage to some houses, but fortunately, there were no injuries.
