ASADABAD/JALALABAD (Pajhwok): Police on Wednesday claimed Pakistan fired more than 300 rockets into eastern Kunar province, as protests in neighbouring Nangarhar province against the periodic shelling entered a second day.
Kunar police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Habib Syedkhel told Pajhwok Afghan News 315 rockets were fired from Pakistan on Wednesday morning, landing in the Shultan Dara area of Shegal district and Goriga area of Dangam district, leaving a child injured.
Goriga is a remote village in Dangam district near the Pakistani border. More than a hundred families have moved to safety from the village as a result of the Pakistani attacks. However, some families continue to live in the area.
There had been a brief lull in the cross-border attacks after Afghan forces said they were ready to retaliate.
Defence Minister Bismillah Khan Mohammad recently told the Parliament that President Karzai had ordered security forces to stand ready for retaliation to the Pakistani aggression.
Meanwhile, residents of neighbouring Nangarhar province continued their protest demonstrations against the Pakistani attacks on Wednesday.
Hundreds of youth representatives and civil society activists staged a protest demonstration in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, strongly condemning the attacks.
The youth affairs chief for Nangarhar, Matiullah Ahmadzai, told Pajhwok Afghan News they could no longer tolerate the Pakistani attacks and the international community should take solid steps to stop them.
“The countries who have signed strategic partnership accords with Afghanistan should not stay silent over the continued rocket attacks,” he said.
Positive Change civil society group leader Abdul Basir Sabawoon asked President Karzai to explain his stance over the Pakistani attacks.
“We can no longer tolerate these rocket attacks. The government should come up with a clear stance,” he said.
The protestors issued an 8-aritcle statement that asked the government to give a firm response to the Pakistani aggression.
The statement asked Pakistan to stop killing innocent Afghan civilians and maintain a good neighborhood in line with international laws.
US Ambassador to Afghanistan James Cunningham on Tuesday stressed the issue of sporadic Pakistani rocket attacks should be resolved through diplomatic channels.
Speaking to reporters in Kabul, the ambassador said his country preferred to stay neutral and wanted the two neighbouring countries to resolve the issue through diplomacy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said Washington was bound to help Kabul to counter external threats under a strategic partnership agreement.
The ministry spokesman, Ahmad Shakib Mustaghni said a letter had been sent to the US Embassy, in which the Pakistani attacks were described as a clear violation of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty.
“This action is a flagrant violation of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty and is considered as a clear aggression on its soil,” the letter said
ma
Visits: 28
GET IN TOUCH
NEWSLETTER
SUGGEST A STORY
PAJHWOK MOBILE APP