Cross-border firing kills 5 Afghans including 3 soldiers
JALALABAD, Afghanistan, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Fire exchange between Afghan and Pakistani forces at the border town of Torkham have claimed the lives of five Afghans including three soldiers and two civilians since Sunday, spokesman for Nangarhar provincial government Attaullah Khogiani said Wednesday.
"Since eruption of conflict and fire exchange at Torkham border, three Afghan Border Police personnel and two children have been killed," Khogiani told Xinhua.
He also confirmed that 23 others including a civilian sustained injuries over the period.
Pakistani forces, according to the official on Sunday, attempted to construct a gate on no man's land without informing the Afghan government and the step had triggered gun battle between the two sides.
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Pakistan summons Afghan envoy over army major's death
ISLAMABAD, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Wednesday summoned Afghan envoy Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal and lodged protest over the death of an army major in shelling by the Afghan forces.
Major Ali Jawad Khan, who was injured in cross-border firing at Torkham border on Saturday, died of wounds in a military hospital in Peshawar on Tuesday.
Both sides started trading fire after the Afghan government raised objections to the construction of a gate inside its territory.
"Foreign Secretary Mr. Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary today called in Afghan Ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge Pakistan's strong protest over the shahadat (martyrdom) of Major Ali Jawad Khan, an officer of Pakistan Army, who was injured on 13 June due to unprovoked firing by Afghan security forces at Torkham border crossing," the Foreign Ministry said.
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