At least eight people were injured in firing incidents at the Chaman border on Thursday, reports said.<\/p>\n
Balochistan Health Department Media Coordinator Dr Waseem Baig said the injured had been shifted to the Chaman District Headquarters Hospital.<\/p>\n
The official said that an emergency had been declared at hospitals in Chaman in light of the current situation.<\/p>\n
While the official did not specify that the firing came from across the border, senior government sources requesting anonymity said that the firing originated from inside Afghanistan and that there were reports of women and children being injured.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Balochistan Minister for Home Affairs Mir Ziaullah Langove condemned the incident and sought a report from the deputy commissioner. He said that the army knew how to defend the country\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe in pursuing a friendly policy with neighbouring countries. Do not think of our desire for peace as a weakness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The incident comes four days after at least seven people lost their lives and 16 others suffered injuries in Chaman, which came under heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces, the military\u2019s media wing said.<\/p>\n
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had described the incident as \u201cuncalled-for aggression\u201d and said Pakistani troops had given a \u201cbefitting\u201d but \u201cmeasured response\u201d and avoided targeting civilians on the other side.<\/p>\n
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had subsequently said that the interim government in Afghanistan had apologised to Pakistan for the incident, saying that the \u201cmatter is now resolved\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman was closed for an indefinite period after an armed man from the Afghan side opened fire on Pakistani security personnel at Friendship Gate, resulting in the martyrdom of one soldier and leaving two others wounded.<\/p>\n
Official sources had said that Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire for more than an hour following the incident, with reports that five personnel from the Afghan side were killed and 14 others were injured in the gun battle.<\/p>\n
The closure of the border soon after the incident caused the suspension of trade, including the Afghan transit trade, between the two countries. On November 22, Pakistan reopened its border with Afghanistan at Chaman after a week. The decision to reopen the border was taken at a meeting between Pakistani border authorities and Taliban officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least eight people were injured in firing incidents at the Chaman border on Thursday, reports said. Balochistan Health Department Media Coordinator Dr Waseem Baig said the injured had been shifted to the Chaman District Headquarters Hospital. The official said that an emergency had been declared at hospitals in Chaman in light of the current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-301383","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national"},"yoast_head":"\n