Afghanistan: Chaman border crossing reopens after latest cross-border clash

The border that Afghanistan and Pakistan share has reopened following the recent cross-border clash. The latest cross-border clash killed at least nine Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier.

The official on the Pakistani side of the Chaman border Abdul Hameed Zehri told Al Jazeera Tuesday that the situation at the border is back to normal. The border crossing reopened two days after the latest cross-border clash that killed nine Pakistani civilians and one Afghan soldier.

“The border is open for trade and civilian use as usual. Things are running smoothly, and the situation is calm here,” said Zehri.

The cross-border clash took place on Sunday, with the Pakistani military saying that an “unprovoked and indiscriminate” firing from the Afghan side of the border killed several civilians and wounded dozens of people, marking the latest flare of tensions at the border the two countries share.

On Monday, Pakistani defense minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament that Afghan authorities apologized for the incident. Asif added that officials on both sides met shortly after the incident took place, and Afghan authorities said such an incident would never happen again.

“Provocation was started by Afghanistan. Our forces were repairing the border fence when they were attacked by the Taliban forces. In the first round of firing, there were no casualties, but in the second round, they used heavy artillery and mortars which resulted in the civilian deaths,” said the minister.

The Chaman border crossing is one of the busiest border crossings between the two countries, with thousands of people using the border crossing every day.

Kabul said one Taliban soldier died during the firing, and 10 others were wounded. Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said that a repeat incident would be regrettable.

On Monday, a Taliban spokesman said three attackers were killed by Afghan security forces after attempting to attack a hotel in Kabul that is popular among Chinese diplomats and businessmen. While no foreigners were killed in the attack at the Kabul Longan Hotel, two were injured trying to escape.

The Taliban’s rivals, the Islamic State militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a post on the Telegram messaging platform.