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Afghanistan warns Pakistan about border fighting
By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press
Sunday, September 25, 2011
(09-25) 09:29 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
Afghan defense officials warned Pakistan on Sunday to stop firing rockets and heavy artillery into northeast of the country or the military will respond with force.
In its strongest condemnation to date, the Afghan Defense Ministry accused the Pakistani army of firing more than 300 artillery and rockets into Kunar and Nuristan provinces during the past five days.
The area is a haven for hardcore insurgent groups fighting in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. U.S.-led coalition forces have a light footprint in the area and the cross-border fighting highlights NATO's struggles to pacify the remote region and underscores the lack of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan against their common foes.
The ministry said an unknown number of Afghan civilians have been killed by the shelling coming from Pakistani territory. Several houses and mosques have been destroyed and hundreds of people have been displaced from their homes, the ministry said.
"Once again, the Pakistani army started firing heavy artillery and rockets over innocent Afghan people from the other side of the Durand Line," the statement said, referring to the disputed 19th century demarcation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistani officials.
Pakistan complained earlier this summer that militants coming from Afghanistan killed at least 55 members of its security forces and tribal police and demanded that U.S. and Afghan forces do more to stem the flow of fighters.
Afghan defense officials said that according to their forces on the ground, more than 100 rockets or mortars rained down on the two provinces Saturday night.
"It's a clear attack on civilian residential areas," the ministry statement said.
"The Afghan Defense Ministry is strongly condemning the attack and is giving strong warnings that such violations (of sovereignty) will have their effect on the brotherly, friendly relations of two neighboring countries," the statement said. "There is no reason for continuing such attacks. The Pakistan government should know that Afghan National Army, with the support of the Afghan people, is ready to respond if such attacks continues."
Also in the east, the U.S.-led coalition said two NATO service members were killed Sunday in separate roadside bombings and a suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated explosives at a local police headquarters building, killing four people in Paktika province.
In the south, Afghan police shot and killed two men wearing explosives vests, foiling a planned suicide attack on a government building in Zabul province.
The deaths of two NATO service members raised to 442 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year. The coalition did not disclose further details about their deaths.
The suicide attack in Paktika province occurred at the entrance to a local police headquarters building in Yahya Khel district. Two policemen and two civilians died in the attack, said Abdul Rahman, who heads a police coordination office in Paktika province.
"After the attack, gunmen fired bullets at the police headquarters from two or three directions, but the gunfire ended after 10 or 15 minutes and no other casualties were reported," Rahman said.
In the south, Afghan police shot dead two men wearing explosives vests, foiling a planned suicide attack on a government building in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province. The shots detonated the attackers' explosives and both died, according to the Ministry of Interior. Also in the south, a bus collided with a mini van just outside Kandahar city, killing eight Afghan civilians and wounding more than a dozen others.
In the capital Kabul, President Hamid Karzai met with his national security team and appointed a panel of high-ranking officials, led by Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, to investigate the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed the nation's peace council.
Karzai said Rabbani's death was a "big loss" and that greater security measures should be taken to protect top Afghan figures, including religious clerics and tribal leaders. Intelligence officials at the meeting said one person had been arrested in connection with the assassination and that authorities were close to ascertaining the details of the killing.
Afghanistan warns Pakistan about border fighting
By RAHIM FAIEZ, Associated Press
Sunday, September 25, 2011
(09-25) 09:29 PDT KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)
Afghan defense officials warned Pakistan on Sunday to stop firing rockets and heavy artillery into northeast of the country or the military will respond with force.
In its strongest condemnation to date, the Afghan Defense Ministry accused the Pakistani army of firing more than 300 artillery and rockets into Kunar and Nuristan provinces during the past five days.
The area is a haven for hardcore insurgent groups fighting in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. U.S.-led coalition forces have a light footprint in the area and the cross-border fighting highlights NATO's struggles to pacify the remote region and underscores the lack of cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan against their common foes.
The ministry said an unknown number of Afghan civilians have been killed by the shelling coming from Pakistani territory. Several houses and mosques have been destroyed and hundreds of people have been displaced from their homes, the ministry said.
"Once again, the Pakistani army started firing heavy artillery and rockets over innocent Afghan people from the other side of the Durand Line," the statement said, referring to the disputed 19th century demarcation between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistani officials.
Pakistan complained earlier this summer that militants coming from Afghanistan killed at least 55 members of its security forces and tribal police and demanded that U.S. and Afghan forces do more to stem the flow of fighters.
Afghan defense officials said that according to their forces on the ground, more than 100 rockets or mortars rained down on the two provinces Saturday night.
"It's a clear attack on civilian residential areas," the ministry statement said.
"The Afghan Defense Ministry is strongly condemning the attack and is giving strong warnings that such violations (of sovereignty) will have their effect on the brotherly, friendly relations of two neighboring countries," the statement said. "There is no reason for continuing such attacks. The Pakistan government should know that Afghan National Army, with the support of the Afghan people, is ready to respond if such attacks continues."
Also in the east, the U.S.-led coalition said two NATO service members were killed Sunday in separate roadside bombings and a suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated explosives at a local police headquarters building, killing four people in Paktika province.
In the south, Afghan police shot and killed two men wearing explosives vests, foiling a planned suicide attack on a government building in Zabul province.
The deaths of two NATO service members raised to 442 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan so far this year. The coalition did not disclose further details about their deaths.
The suicide attack in Paktika province occurred at the entrance to a local police headquarters building in Yahya Khel district. Two policemen and two civilians died in the attack, said Abdul Rahman, who heads a police coordination office in Paktika province.
"After the attack, gunmen fired bullets at the police headquarters from two or three directions, but the gunfire ended after 10 or 15 minutes and no other casualties were reported," Rahman said.
In the south, Afghan police shot dead two men wearing explosives vests, foiling a planned suicide attack on a government building in Qalat, the capital of Zabul province. The shots detonated the attackers' explosives and both died, according to the Ministry of Interior. Also in the south, a bus collided with a mini van just outside Kandahar city, killing eight Afghan civilians and wounding more than a dozen others.
In the capital Kabul, President Hamid Karzai met with his national security team and appointed a panel of high-ranking officials, led by Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, to investigate the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed the nation's peace council.
Karzai said Rabbani's death was a "big loss" and that greater security measures should be taken to protect top Afghan figures, including religious clerics and tribal leaders. Intelligence officials at the meeting said one person had been arrested in connection with the assassination and that authorities were close to ascertaining the details of the killing.
Afghanistan warns Pakistan about border fighting
