Pakistani and Afghan forces clash at vital border crossing

At the recently closed main border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistani and Afghan security forces engaged in gunfire.

In the overnight clashes at the Torkham crossing, a crucial transit point that Pakistan closed last month after challenging its neighbor’s opposition to the construction of a new border post, one member of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs confirmed on Monday that two members of its security forces had died and two were injured.

According to two Pakistani security officials, they suffered injuries during the clashes, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The conflict broke out on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when Pakistan’s food imports are typically at their highest level. In harsh winter conditions, the fighting left about 5, 000 trucks stranded on both sides of the border.

The UN estimates that the conflict will only make the Afghan economy more vulnerable when millions of people are in danger of hunger and about half of the population requires humanitarian assistance to survive, adding to the challenges facing the country’s struggling economy.

In response to homicideous crossfire and shootings, both nations have previously closed Torkham and the southwest Chaman border crossing.

Pakistan, which the Taliban government refutes, claimed that it was attacked from Afghan soil. Difficulty numbers of people were killed on Afghan territory as a result of Pakistani military aircraft strikes in December.

Afghan security forces went into “defensive mode” on Monday, according to Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Kabul interior ministry.

The Taliban opened fire on Pakistan’s border post without using automatic weapons, according to a Pakistani official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official claimed that Pakistani employees fired back.

According to Yousaf Afridi, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries for Pakistan’s Khyber district, the closure of Torkham has resulted in losses of at least $15 million.

Afghan traders are losing $500, 000 a day as a result of the closure, according to Shakirullah Safi, the Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Investment in Afghanistan’s CEO.