Local sources in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan said that Taliban authorities have handed over the man who allegedly shot Pakistani soldiers at the Wesh-Chaman border crossing to Pakistan.
The source claims that the handing over took place between Taliban officials in Kandahar province and Pakistani government representatives on Saturday night, November 19.
Earlier this week, a video depicting a gunman shooting Pakistani soldiers at close range in the presence of the Taliban members was circulated on social media.
Pakistani officials claimed that a man entering Pakistan from Afghanistan opened fire on a Pakistani soldier, killing him and injuring several others.
The number of deaths sustained by the two sides in the armed skirmish, however, has not yet been determined.
The Chaman border crossing, one of the key borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was closed to trade and transportation following the confrontation between the Pakistani security forces and the Taliban.
According to a military official from Pakistan, Afghan passengers and commercial traffic will not be authorized to cross the border until the Taliban turns over the person who fired at Pakistani soldiers to the Pakistani government.
The border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Spin Boldak of Kandahar will likely open for traffic by tomorrow following the handing over of the accused to the Pakistani side.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistani and Taliban forces have engaged in armed clashes on the Chaman border multiple times, each time resulting in the closure of the border crossing.
The border guards of Afghanistan’s past governments have also engaged in multiple bloody skirmishes with the Pakistani military, demonstrating the longstanding history of border tensions between the two countries.
