KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Some of the most intense border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in recent years have left at least 15 civilians dead on the Afghan side on Thursday, authorities said.
Afghanistan accused Pakistani forces of firing heavy artillery in civilian areas after protests by communities on both sides 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 fighting occurred, said the worst Pakistani artillery shelling started around 7 pm and hit 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 shot from the Pakistani side showed the dark sky lit by intense crossfire.
A Pakistani local government delegation in Balochistan province arrived at the border to assess the situation, officials in Pakistan said.
General Yasin Zia, the head of the Afghan army, ordered the three army corps stationed throughout the border areas to be “fully ready to retaliate in kind against the Pakistani army” and put the special forces and force of your country on the “highest alert”. “The Afghan Defense Ministry said in a statement. The ministry estimated the death toll at nine, including one child.
Movement across the porous border had been restricted by the Pakistani side in recent months out of concern about the pandemic, which has greatly affected both countries. The restrictions particularly affected communities on both sides of the Chaman crossing, people who depend on easy border trade, whether as workers or smugglers, to earn a living.
For several weeks, protesters had staged a sit-in on the Pakistani side of the Chaman crossing demanding the resumption of normal flow. In June, Pakistan reopened for commercial trucks, but the crossing remained closed to travelers and workers. The border was opened to travelers stranded on both sides on Wednesday, but the protest to allow routine crossing of workers had continued.
The situation became tense on the Pakistani side on Thursday, with reports that Pakistani forces opened fire on protesters during the clashes and killed at least two people. Protesters set fire to a Covid-19 quarantine facility. When thousands of travelers trapped on the Afghan side rushed through the chaos, they were met by Pakistani fire that also struck the Afghan border police facilities. The situation erupted in clashes that escalated late into the night, witnesses said.
Adeel Ahmad, a provincial official in Balochistan, said the Pakistani security forces had denied that they attacked civilians and had only fired into the air to disperse protesters and maintain order.
The coronavirus outbreak>
Frequent questions
Updated July 27, 2020
-
Should I refinance my mortgage?
- It could be a good idea, because mortgage rates have never been lower. Refinancing applications have taken mortgage applications to some of the highest levels since 2008, so be ready to get online. But the defaults have increased, too, so if you’re thinking about buying a home, be aware that some lenders have tightened their standards.
-
What will school be like in September?
- Many schools are unlikely to return to normal hours this fall, requiring the routine of online learning, impromptu child care, and delayed work days to continue. California’s two largest public school districts, Los Angeles and San Diego, said July 13 that instruction will be remote only in the fall, citing concerns that rising coronavirus infections in their areas pose too serious a risk to students and teachers. Together, the two districts enroll about 825,000 students. They are the largest in the country so far to abandon plans for a partial physical return to classrooms when they reopen in August. For other districts, the solution will not be an all-or-nothing approach. Many systems, including the country’s largest New York City, are developing hybrid plans that involve spending a few days in classrooms and other days online. There is no national policy on this yet, so check with your municipal school system regularly to see what’s going on in your community.
-
Is the coronavirus in the air?
- Coronavirus can remain in the air for hours in tiny droplets in stagnant air, infecting people as they inhale, growing scientific evidence suggests. This risk is highest in crowded interior spaces with poor ventilation, and may help explain overcast events reported in meat packing plants, churches, and restaurants. It is unclear how often the virus is transmitted through these small droplets or sprays, compared to the larger droplets that are expelled when a sick person coughs or sneezes, or is transmitted through contact with contaminated surfaces, Linsey said. Marr, Virginia Tech aerosol expert. Aerosols are released even when a symptom-free person exhales, speaks or sings, according to Dr. Marr and more than 200 other experts, who have summarized the evidence in an open letter to the World Organization. Of the health.
-
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
-
Does Covid-19 transmit asymptomatic?
- So far, the evidence seems to show that it does. A widely cited article published in April suggests that people are most infectious approximately two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms, and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were the result of transmission from people who still had no symptoms. Recently, a senior expert from the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people without symptoms was “very rare,” but later withdrew that claim.
“Daily salaried workers, especially who work on both sides of the border, are under the most pressure and have demanded that the government lift restrictions on movement and economic activity,” said Ahmed. “The locals say that we can tolerate hunger and unemployment more and want a solution to the current impasse. Locals are also resisting government plans to introduce passports and biometric systems for cross-border movement. “
Afghan officials and residents in the Spin Boldak district said the intense artillery fire from the Pakistani side forced hundreds of families to flee their homes from the border villages last night.
The clashes on the southern border came just a week after Afghan officials said Pakistani forces had fired dozens of mortar shells at the Sarkano district of eastern Kunar province, killing eight civilians.
The two countries share a long border, approximately 1,500 miles, that was drawn by the British in the 19th century and that divided the Pashtun ethnic tribes. Consecutive Afghan governments have questioned the legitimacy of the split, known as the Durand Line, as the official border. Efforts by the Pakistani government to build reinforced fences and security checkpoints along the border have angered Afghan officials and communities in the area.
Taimoor Shah reported from Kandahar and Mujib Mashal from Kabul, Afghanistan. The reports were contributed by Salman Masood in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Fahim Abed in Kabul, Afghanistan.
