New Delhi (NVI): Thousands of Pashtuns in Kandahar and Helmand provinces of Afghanistan held protests against Pakistan to condemn last week’s deadly incident at Chaman-Spin Boldak border.
Strong voices were raised against Pakistani forces and pro-Pakistan elements of the Taliban whom they referred to as “Punjabi Taliban”.
On July 31, at least 15 Afghan civilians were killed and many others were injured in Pakistani forces artillery attacks on “residential areas” in Spin Boldak district, Kandahar province, reported The Balochistan Post.
The protesters accused the Pakistani forces of firing heavy artillery on the adjacent civilian areas when the Pashtun community on both sides were demanding the reopening of the border that had been closed in the early days of the Covid-19. The Afghans reportedly wanted to spend Eid-ul-Adha with their relatives in Chaman, and the local Pashtuns wanted to cross the border for similar reasons.
Muhammad Arif Noorzai, an Afghan lawmaker from Kandahar, said that the cross-border clash precipitated when the Pakistani forces opened indiscriminate fire on the peaceful Afghan protesters on the border. “The first bullet was fired by Pakistanis”, he said.
Noorzai further added that the Afghan border security forces retaliated only when they saw that the civilians were harmed. “Pakistanis targeted civilians and Afghan forces alike.”
-CHK
