Man killed in mortar shell firing by Afghanistan in northwestern Pak

Peshawar, Mar 6 (PTI) A person was killed and seven others injured after Afghan forces allegedly carried out mortar shelling on civilian areas near the Afghanistan border in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past 24 hours, security officials said on Friday.

According to officials, Meena Khan Wazir, a local tribesman, was killed when mortar shells allegedly fired from the Afghan side struck his house in the border town of Angoor Adda in South Waziristan district.

In a separate incident, seven people, including two women and two children, were injured when a mortar shell hit two houses shortly before Iftar on Thursday in Mohmand district. Several houses were also damaged in the attack.

Meanwhile, Mohibullah Khan, a social figure from Mohmand district, urged both the Pakistani and Afghan governments to avoid targeting civilian populations despite the ongoing tensions.

He emphasised that civilians should not bear the consequences of the strained relations and the ongoing conflict along the border.

Officials on Thursday said security forces carried out coordinated ground and aerial strikes against militant positions along the border with Afghanistan in southwest Pakistan, targeting dozens of posts used by the Afghan Taliban and Fitna al-Khawarij militants.

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term that the state uses for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to security officials, the Pakistan Army conducted effective ground and air operations during the night between Wednesday and Thursday, striking 41 militant posts linked to Afghan Taliban elements and Fitna al-Khawarij.

Pakistan launched 'Operation Ghazab lil Haq' last week after the Afghan Taliban forces attacked 53 locations along the 2,611 kms long border.

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have nose-dived since October last. PTI AYZ GSP GSP