Afghanistan hopes to end Torkham border clash issue through diplomatic talks with Pakistan

Kabul: Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah today condemned the overnight attack on the border police by Pakistani forces and said that a ceasefire had been agreed upon.

Abdullah said that his government and Pakistan had an agreement that they would hold discussions before building any new installations at Torkham and mutually agree upon according to international law.

"We currently have agreed on a ceasefire with Pakistan. We hope this problem will end through the work by diplomatic addresses," Tolo News quoted him as saying.

He said that Pakistan wanted to build new installations and the Afghan Border Forces didn't allow it which led to the clash between the two forces.

"One of our border soldiers was martyred and six others wounded in the clashes against Pakistan last night. The other side had casualties too," he added.

Praising the Afghan security forces, he said, "We have the right to protect ourselves and no one should look down at us when it comes to defending our sovereignty and integrity."

"We have proved that we are able to protect our homeland and our people. The current fight Pakistan started doesn't help anyone's interest," he added.

Mohammad Ayoub Hussainkhil, executive officer of the border police forces, said the clashes between both security forces on Sunday night continued for more than seven hours.

He added that the clash began after Pakistan border police wanted to build installations at Torkham.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani officials confirmed that two of their border policemen were injured in the Torkham clash.

This comes after the Pakistani border police recently closed the border gate to Afghans without visas.

The people in Torkham protested a week ago over the continued closure of the Torkham border citing that 'Torkham' was not recognised as the border between the two countries and Islamabad does not have the right to close the gate.