The Taliban and Pakistani forces clashed for hours late on Tuesday, November 15, near a borderline in the Dand-e-Patan district of the eastern Paktia Province. This comes two days after another clash that left casualties on the Pakistani side, forcing the country to close its key border crossing in the southern Kandahar province.
Tuesday’s clash erupted around 04:00 PM near the Kharlasi border crossing in the Dand-e-Patan district of Paktia and lasted for several hours, a source told Kabul Now. The clash ended on the same day, and there are no reports of casualties so far.
According to the source, the Taliban have deployed fresh troops in the vicinity of the border crossing.
This latest clash comes two days after the Taliban and Pakistani forces fought each other in the Spin Boldak district of the southern Kandahar province.
Hours later, viral video footage on social media showed a man opening fire on Pakistani border guards with a handgun from a very close range.
Sources have confirmed that the attack left three Pakistani forces dead.
Though Pakistan has said that the assailant caught in the video footage is a member of the Taliban’s security forces, the group’s spokesman rejects the accusations.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the attacker is unknown, adding that one Pakistani soldier was killed in the attack. He expressed grief over the incident.
A source in Kandahar detailed that Pakistan has closed the Spin Boldak border crossing after the deadly incident, asking the Taliban to hand over the assailant. The source added that Pakistan will keep the border closed until the Taliban hand over the assailant to the Pakistani authorities.
