Islamabad, March 8 (IANS) Pakistan’s military says that Afghan security forces fired over two dozen mortars into its territory Saturday but no one was hurt.
The incident occurred at a time when the execution of 23 Pakistani security personnel by the Pakistani Taliban and the killing of 21 Afghan soldiers in Kunar province increased diplomatic tensions between the neighbors.
Pakistan says that the Pakistani Taliban had executed the security men on the Afghan side of the border last month.
Afghan officials said the Afghan Taliban who had attacked a border post and killed 21 Afghan National Army troops had arrived from Pakistan.
“Today morning between 0930-1125 hours, Afghan Border Police from Tarkhobi camp fired 25 mortars into Pakistan,” Xinhua quoted military sources as saying.
Tarkhobi camp is located in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province, which borders Pakistan’s North Waziristan.
The Pakistani military sources said the Afghan firing did not cause any casualty or damage.
They said a formal protest has been lodged with the Afghan authorities over the firing.
Pakistan and Afghanistan, which share nearly 2,500-km-long common border, routinely accuse each other of border violations.
Security officials say that the Pakistani Taliban, who have crossed into Afghanistan, have regrouped their fighters on the other side of the border and launch attacks from there.
Kabul also alleges that Afghan Taliban have taken shelter in Pakistan.
Tensions escalated between Pakistan and Afghanistan at a time when their cooperation is needed for a political solution to the Afghan issue ahead of the NATO troops’ withdrawal by the end of this year.