An Afghan border policeman was killed and three others were injured in a six-hour clash with Pakistani paramilitary forces over a border dispute, Afghan officials said on Thursday.
Idrees Mohmand, a spokesman for the border police, said that the gun battle erupted on Wednesday night and continued until early Thursday over a “gate” allegedly built by Pakistan in eastern Afghanistan.
Last month, President Hamid Karzai ordered Afghan troops to “take immediate measures” to remove the gate that Pakistani troops had built on the Durand Line without any bilateral agreement.
The Durand Line, a 19 th century British-drawn boundary through the tribal Pashtun region, has been a thorny topic between the two neighbours.
Afghanistan says it does not recognise the line and insists that any activities along it be co-ordinated. Pakistan and most of the international community recognise it as the border.
Mohmand said the Afghan police went to the “zero line and destroyed all the new installations built by the Pakistani Government.” That was when the skirmish occurred, he said.
“Now our troops have moved back to their own base and right now everything is normal,” he said, alleging that the Pakistani paramilitaries sustained injuries.
Pakistani officials declined to comment on Wednesday’s clash and casualties.
