JALALABAD (PAN): Thirty Pakistani troops were killed, 30 others wounded and four of their posts destroyed during a clash in a contested border area in eastern Nangarhar province on Monday, an official said.
The fire exchange involving light and heavy weapons erupted at around 8:30am after Pakistani forces started reconstructing a security gate that was razed in the previous border skirmish in Goshta district on Wednesday.
A border police commander in the eastern zone, Col. Abdul Basir Kamawi, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Pakistanis retreated at about 11am after suffering the casualties. The fire exchange ended at 11am.
He said four Pakistani posts and a tank were destroyed and all military equipment and arms inside the checkpoints gutted -- a claim endorsed by the district’s administrative head, Isa Khan.
Earlier in the day, officials said Pakistani troops had started reconstructing the security gate that was destroyed during the previous fire exchange that saw an Afghan border police officer killed.
The latest skirmish broke out following a verbal clash between Afghan and Pakistani border security personnel over the reconstruction of the gate. Heavy and light weapons were used by both sides and gunfire could be heard in nearby villages, said Nabi Gul, a resident of Goshta.
The last clash drew nationwide condemnation in Afghanistan, and saw protests in the east, south and the capital, Kabul.
As the foreign ministry summoned a Pakistani diplomat in Kabul, angry residents of Kapisa and Khost provinces staged protests against the neighbouring country and in support of Afghan forces.
