Afghanistan complains to Pakistan over cross-border shelling
20 Jun 2011 14:33
KABUL, June 20 (Reuters) - Afghanistan on Monday complained to Pakistan about its shelling of Afghan villages, soon after an assault by Pakistani forces drove militants across the border.
The two sides blame each other for failing to crack down hard enough on militants along a porous border across which insurgents move freely.
The fighting threatens to raise tensions as the United States prepares to announce a gradual withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan next month.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
For more on Afghanistan and Pakistan, click
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
An Afghan ministry statement said Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul spoke to the Pakistani ambassador over shelling by the Pakistani military of villages in the Sarkano district of Kunar province, close to the border, earlier on Monday.
"The foreign minister expressed the Afghan side's concern for the shelling of Afghan villages by Pakistani artillery ... and conveyed the Afghan government's request for such shelling to stop," the statement said.
"The recent shelling has caused casualties among Afghan civilians," it said, without providing more details.
Sarkano is just across the border from the Mohmand tribal agency, where Pakistani forces launched an air and ground assault against a militant stronghold on Saturday.
A Pakistan army statement on Sunday said the air and ground assault had killed 25 militants and that others had fled across the border.
The area is close to the Korengal valley, from where the United States pulled back its troops in 2010.
Pakistan complained the withdrawal opened up safe havens for militants and left it vulnerable to counterattack after it drove them out of their own tribal areas.
Such complaints mirror those from U.S. officials who say fighting in Afghanistan is being undercut by militant sanctuaries in Pakistan.
The weekend operation was launched in the same area where Pakistan complained that NATO aircraft had attacked one of its military posts 2.5 km (1.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory on Friday.
Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been frayed since a unilateral raid by U.S. special forces troops killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a garrison town not far from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on May 2.
U.S. forces have also stepped up attacks on militant targets by drone aircraft in tribal areas and Washington wants the Pakistan military, which Islamabad says is already overstretched, to step up its operations there. (Reporting by Paul Tait; Additional reporting by Islamabad bureau, editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
Leave a comment:
IMPORTANT: Your comment will not appear immediately as we vet all messages before publication. We don't publish comments that are racist or otherwise offensive. Nor do we publish comments that advertise products or services. Please keep your comment concise and do not write in capitals.
Post a Comment
Post a Comment