Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes

The Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes are cross-border shellings that have occurred along the Durand Line between the Pakistani Armed Forces and the Afghan Border Police as well as the Afghan military.^[1] The latest conflict began in July 2003, then in May 2007 and continued again in June 2011 after hundreds of Pakistani missiles began shelling Afghanistan's territory in Nuristan, Kunar, Nangarhar and Khost provinces.^[2][3]

General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan military, claimed that the first incident (on 13 May 2007) started when Pakistani troops attempted to create a military outpost inside Paktika province of Afghanistan. Pakistan's military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad, said that Afghanistan had initiated hostilities because the Afghan National Army opened "unprovoked firing" on five or six border posts in the Kurram Agency of FATA, Pakistan. ^[4]

Background

Pakistan's government and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had been involved in the affairs of Afghanistan since the 1970s.^[5] On the other hand, Afghanistan ignores the poorly marked Durand Line (the international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan), a fact that has irked Pakistan. The single-page Durand Line Agreement was inherited by Pakistan after the end of British rule in 1947. The cross-border attacks have been occurring even before Pakistan's creation in 1947 and continue until 2011. The Durand Line border cuts right in the middle of the Pashtun tribes who are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second largest in Pakistan. In the early 1960s, some Pashtun nationalists tried to press for an independent Pashtunistan state but were unsuccessful.^[6] Pakistan has used its western border regions (along Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and Balochistan) as a frontier to defend itself from possible military insurgencies from Afghanistan or Iran.

The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan threatened the security of Pakistan and forcibly pushed millions of Afghan refugees into Pakistan and Iran. During the early 1980s, multi-national mujahideen forces (consisting of almost 100,000 fighters from forty Muslim countries in addition to Afghanistan) found support and funding from Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United States in the context of the Cold War.^[7] The Soviet Union withdrew all of its troops by February 1989. Afghanistan experienced civil war in the 1990s, and the border region served as a training ground for the Taliban and other militants. Since late 2001, Afghanistan has been occupied by NATO to provide basic security and rebuild the war-torn country. In the meantime, militant groups along the border areas have continued to launch massive terrorist attacks inside Afghan cities, as well as in villages near the border.^[8] In some cases, terrorists are disguised as women in burqas with weapons.^[9] The United States armed forces has built a number of forward operating bases along the Durand Line to counter insurgents in Afghanistan, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is also using unmanned aerial vehicles to hit targets in Pakistan's border areas.

Beginning of border conflict

Fighting between the two forces erupted when the Pakistani army attempted to position their forces in the mountains of Goyee area in Jaji district of southeastern Paktia province in Afghanistan, General Zahir Azimi, Afghan defence ministry spokesman told a press conference.^[10] At around 9:00 AM local time on Sunday 13 May 2007, Afghanistan launched attacks towards five or six Pakistani military positions in the Kurram tribal region in northwest Pakistan.^[10] At the same time, Afghanistan alleges a Pakistani military ground contingent crossed the border more than a mile into Afghanistan's Paktia province and killed two Afghan civilians on the Afghan side of the Durand Line. Afghan military spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi also alleged the Pakistani military of using artillery, saying the alleged attack was a clear violation.^[11] The Pakistan military spokesman Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad denied Pakistani forces had crossed the border and instead accused the Afghan National Army of firing on Pakistani positions and called the firing "unprovoked and without any reason." He further stated that Pakistani forces returned fire only after being attacked by the Afghan National Army and that seven Afghan soldiers had been killed whilst three Pakistani soldiers had been wounded, with the official count states eight Pakistani soldiers died and seven Afghan soldiers died.^[10]

General Azimi, the Afghan defence ministry spokesman stated that Pakistani troops had not only crossed into Afghanistan but that they attempted to position themselves permanently in the Jaji district of the southeastern Paktia province. He further stated that two of the Afghan civilians killed were children and that two policeman of the Afghan National Police were also injured. The police chief for Paktia province, Abdul Rahman Sarjang, stated that one policeman was killed and three were wounded. The Afghan defense ministry spokesman also stated that thousands of local tribal men joined the Afghan army and fired on Pakistani military helicopters operating on Afghan territory and that one Pakistani helicopter was destroyed by Afghan MANPAD missiles.^[1] Pakistan responded to the fighting with artillery fire into Afghanistan.

Timeline of events

• 13 May 2007 - Afghan ground soldiers attacked Pakistani military outposts which they claimed were illegally built on Afghan soil, killing 8 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistani forces killed 7 Afghan soldiers in return. Pakistan further responded with artillery fire on targets in Afghanistan.^[12]
• 3 February 2011 - One Pakistani soldier was killed and three others wounded after a clash broke out along the border between Pakistani and Afghan forces. An Afghan commander in Khost confirmed the exchange of fire and alleged that the incident broke out after Pakistani troops in Waziristan opened fire towards Afghan police posts in Gurbuz District, claiming the Afghan engagement as retaliation. However, a military official in Peshawar said Afghan troops fired on an army checkpost in Ghulam Khan, North Waziristan and that the fire emanated from Afghan territory first. "We are responding with artillery and mortars," he added.^[13]
• April 28, 2011 - Border firing broke out in South Waziristan. At least 12 Afghan National Army troops and one soldier from the Pakistan Frontier Corps were killed in the clash although another source put the Afghan casualties at 8. The attack came just a week after Afghan militia had struck in Lower Dir, killing 14 Pakistani security personnel and 40 militants. According to the Pakistani military, Afghan troops opened "unprovoked firing" from across the border and also damaged a market, causing troops from the Pakistani side to respond with fire. However, Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for the clash and denied any Afghan casualties, claiming that only three Pakistani troops were killed. According to Pakistani intelligence analysts, foreign coalition forces have been encouraging Afghan troops to attack border posts. Pakistan also demanded for an immediate meeting to discuss the incident.^[14]
• July 2011 - Over 150 Afghans in Kabul took to the streets to protest and condemn what they claimed as continuous cross-border shelling and bombardment by Pakistan in Afghanistan's eastern provinces that killed 12 and left a few wounded. The protestors chanted "death to Pakistan" and expressed anger over the 470 rockets fired into Afghanistan from the Pakistani side, as per the Afghan government's claim. A border police commander also resigned from his post as a reaction to the alleged attacks, saying he could not stand by and watch Afghan civilians getting killed. "If Pakistan does not stop firing rockets into Afghanistan, we will pick up guns and avenge our people’s bloodshed," said one of the protesters. Pakistan rejected the Afghan government accusations, saying a "few accidental rounds" may have been fired when it chased militants from Afghanistan who had crossed over and attacked its security instalments.^[15]
• 19 July 2011 - Pakistan claimed that over 20 mortar shells were fired from Afghanistan which killed 4 Pakistani soldiers and wounded another 2. Pakistan blamed the Afghan National Army for the attack.^[16]
• 27 August 2011 - at least 32 Pakistani security personnel were killed and seven others injured in Chitral after armed terrorists from Afghanistan crossed the border from Nuristan province and initiated firing. The Pakistani government blamed Afghanistan, saying since their expulsion from Pakistani tribal areas, militants were regrouping in Kunar and Nuristan with the support of local Afghan authorities. The Pakistani foreign office summoned the Afghan chargé d'affaires and lodged an official protest over the incident. The Afghan chargé d'affaires condoled the loss of lives and assured an investigation would be conducted into the incident.^[17]
• 7 September 2011 - Protesters from Chitral staged a demonstration outside the Peshawar Press Club against continuous Taliban infiltrations into Pakistan from Afghanistan, including the abduction of 30 Pakistani children a week ago on the day of Eid ul-Fitr. The protestors said they would stand against the Afghan Taliban if their region was attacked in the future and blamed the Afghan government, claiming that Afghan authorities and NATO forces were failing to contain Afghanistan-based Taliban militants. The protestors also urged the need to increase the presence of border forces and called on the federal government to take up the issue with the Afghan government so as to avoid more future incidents.^[18]
• 25 September 2011 - Afghan authorities claimed that more than 340 rockets had been fired over the course of four days from Pakistani territory. The rockets damaged a few buildings, resulted in the death of a child and also forced hundreds to flee their homes. An Afghan interior ministry official did not disclose the source of the cross border shelling but said: "We call on Pakistan, whoever is behind the attacks, to prevent it immediately."^[19]
• 10 October 2011 - Pakistani security forces killed 30 Afghan militants when a group of 200 insurgents from Afghanistan crossed the border into Pakistan. One Pakistani soldier was also killed in the exchange.^[20]

2007 casualties

Afghanistan

There are currently conflicting casualty reports regarding Afghan military casualty figures and are at this point difficult to ascertain. There are claims and estimates by different groups and individuals ranging from 4 to 6 or 7.

• Seven Afghan soldiers have been killed by the Pakistani military.^[21] Afghanistan has also reported 2 civilian deaths.

Pakistan

Pakistan confirmed that three soldiers had been wounded^[22] and Afghanistan claimed that an additional 8 Pakistani soldiers were killed. Three Pakistani civilians were killed by accidental firing near Kabul. Afghanistan also claimed that a Pakistani helicopter had been shot down by civilians armed with missiles, but this claim was denied by Pakistan.

See also

• Af-Pak
• Camp Chapman attack
• Afghanistan–Pakistan relations
• War in Afghanistan
• War on Terrorism
• Military of Afghanistan
• Pakistani Armed Forces

References

External links