Accessibility links

Breaking News

Pakistan Summons Afghan Diplomat Over Border Dispute


An Afghan border policeman takes position at the Goshta district of Nangarhar province border, where Afghanistan shares borders with Pakistan, May 2, 2013.
An Afghan border policeman takes position at the Goshta district of Nangarhar province border, where Afghanistan shares borders with Pakistan, May 2, 2013.
Pakistan has warned its neighbor Afghanistan that Islamabad would not be responsible for the consequences of a border dispute between the two countries if it escalated further.

The Pakistani government summoned the most senior Afghan diplomat in the country Tuesday and warned against any repetition of what it called "unprovoked firing." A day earlier, the Afghan government complained to Islamabad about the same thing.

Cross-border clashes erupted on Monday between Afghan and Pakistani security forces for the second time in less than a week. Pakistan says five of its security force members were wounded in the fight.

Durand Line of Afghanistan
Durand Line of Afghanistan
Kabul claims that its forces were fired on in Afghan territory by Pakistani forces. The location is where last week's gunbattle between the two countries' forces left an Afghan border policeman dead and two Pakistani soldiers wounded.

The porous border between the two countries is largely unmarked. The area also is a crucial battleground in the fight against Taliban militants, who regularly cross the border.

Protests continued in Afghanistan Tuesday with hundreds of people rallying against Pakistan. On Monday, a crowd of thousands protested in Kabul while chanting, "Death to Pakistan."

Afghanistan and Pakistan have had tense relations since Pakistan's formation. Also, Islamabad helped the Taliban take power in Kabul in the 1990s. Both countries now accuse each other of providing safehavens for militants targeting their governments.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG