Fierce fighting in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan

Attack and counterattack: Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in fierce fighting in the border area. Concerns about an escalation in the region, which is difficult in terms of security policy, are growing.

The Taliban have brought out heavy artillery and are firing it towards Pakistan. Pictures from the Afghan news channel Tolonews show Afghanistan’s army apparently attacking Pakistani border posts. Four Pakistanis were injured and villagers had fled to safety. A retaliatory operation, according to the Taliban, after the Pakistani air force targeted targets in Afghanistan’s eastern border provinces on Monday night.

Strong warnings from Afghanistan

“Pakistan bombed Barmal district of Paktika province”, says Amir Mohammad, who lives in the southeastern region. He asked the world to stop these bombings. At least three children and five women are said to have been killed.

There were two more fatalities in another location. The attacks took place at 3 a.m. Residential buildings were hit, say Taliban representatives. The regime in Kabul protested against the violation of Afghanistan’s sovereignty.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns these attacks, said Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat and warned: “We have the experience of a long struggle for freedom against the world’s superpowers. We will not tolerate any invasion of our territory.”

Pakistan justifies attacks by fighting terrorist militias

The target of the attacks was not the state of Afghanistan, according to reports from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. Rather, the Pakistani Air Force took action against terrorist groups that operated from Afghan territory – and repeatedly carried out attacks, especially against the army and police in Pakistan. So last weekend at a Pakistani army checkpoint. A truck loaded with explosives exploded, killing seven soldiers.

At the victims’ funeral, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari announced retaliation: “Pakistan has decided that we will take tough action against anyone who crosses our borders, enters our homes, our country and carries out terror,” said Zadari. Regardless of who he is or what country he comes from. His people and his army would fight together against these “terrorists”.

Kabul rejects accusations that it is not doing enough to combat terrorism

It is primarily about the terrorist group TTP, the so-called Pakistani Taliban. It is estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 of them are hiding in the border area between the two countries. After the attacks by the Pakistani Air Force early Monday morning, they distributed a video. A commander named Abdullah Shah said he was still alive. Any report to the contrary is false.

The Taliban in power in Kabul say they have no influence over these terrorist groups. You do what you can, said Taliban spokesman Sabiullah Mujahid yesterday. But that also has limits: “We reject the presence of any foreign groups in Afghanistan; they are not allowed to operate on Afghan soil. However, there are also inaccessible areas on the border with Pakistan “that we do not control,” said Mujahid.

No agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan in sight

The recently established Pakistani government under Prime Minister Shebbaz Sharif apparently wants to take decisive action against terrorist groups that use neighboring countries as safe havens. In January, under the previous government, there had already been attacks on terrorist groups in southeastern Iran, after Iran had previously attacked terrorists in Pakistan. The conflict with Iran now appears to have been resolved. However, an agreement with the Afghan Taliban currently seems a long way off – precisely because the Islamists ruling in Kabul have no control over parts of their country.