Firefights on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border threatened to revive the October ceasefire

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and the government of Pakistan mutually accused each other on Friday, December 5, of opening fire in a border area in violation of a ceasefire signed between the two countries in October.

“Unfortunately tonight [vendredi]Pakistani side started attacking Afghanistan in Kandahar, Spin Boldak district [sud]and the Islamic Emirate’s forces were forced to take revenge »Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on the social network X, without further details.

“A short time ago, the Afghan Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked shooting” along the border, also wrote about X, the spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Mosharraf Zaidi. “Our armed forces immediately responded appropriately and intensely”he added.

According to residents of the region contacted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on the Afghan side, the firefights started around 10:30 p.m. (7:00 PM Paris time) and lasted about two hours.

Recurring security questions

Ali Mohammed Haqmal, the head of Kandahar’s information department, also accused neighboring Pakistan of starting hostilities before announcing they had ended. Pakistan uses “light and heavy artillery”he told AFP, specifying that mortar fire had hit civilians’ homes. “The clashes have stopped, both sides have agreed to put an end to them”he added, without naming victims.

Pakistani authorities did not immediately comment. An AFP correspondent on the Pakistani side of the border, in Chaman, heard artillery fire and explosions.

Bilateral ties, poisoned by recurring security problems, have deteriorated significantly in recent months until culminating in an armed confrontation of unprecedented proportions in mid-October, which left around 70 people dead.

A ceasefire was agreed on October 19 after mediation by Qatar and Turkey, but this did not prevent shooting at the border, which has been closed since October 12. The negotiations that had started in Türkiye with a view to a lasting ceasefire failed in early November. On November 25, Kabul accused Pakistan of striking border regions, killing 10 people, including nine children, which Islamabad denied.