Posted on 07/31/2020 4:24:45 AM PDT by RandFan
Anger over the closing of the border because of coronavirus fears triggers demonstrations, and then artillery barrages.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Some of the most intense border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years left at least 15 civilians dead on the Afghan side on Thursday, officials said.
Afghanistan accused Pakistani forces of firing heavy artillery into civilian areas after protests by communities on both sides who were demanding the reopening of a nearby border crossing that Pakistan had closed to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Hayatullah Hayat, the governor of Kandahar Province, where the clashes occurred, said the worst barrage of Pakistani artillery started around 7 p.m. and struck the Spin Boldak area. In addition to the deaths, at least 80 other civilians were wounded, he said. Afghan security officials said they had retaliated with rockets. Social media videos apparently filmed from the Pakistani side showed the dark sky lit up by intense crossfire.
Pakistani officials did not immediately comment on the reports of shelling. News outlets reported that officials from the local Pakistani government in Baluchistan Province had arrived at the border to assess the situation.
Gen. Yasin Zia, the chief of Afghanistan’s army, has ordered the three army corps stationed along the border areas to be “fully ready to retaliate to the Pakistani military in kind” and put his country’s special forces and air force on the “highest alert,” Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The ministry estimated the number of dead at nine, including a child.
Movement across the porous border had been restricted by the Pakistani side in recent months over concern about the pandemic, which has hit both countries hard.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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