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Three soldiers injured in clashes with Afghan security forces

Pak-Afghan border sealed after clashes

By our correspondents
July 02, 2015
WANA: The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Angoor Adda was sealed after clashes between the armed forces of both the neighbouring countries on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning that resulted in injuries to three Pakistani security personnel.
Though the Pakistani military authorities denied it, there were reports that three Pakistani security personnel were killed and five others injured in clashes with the Afghan security forces in Angoor Adda, a border town between Pakistan’s South Waziristan and Afghanistan’s Paktika province.
Government officials and tribal sources in Angoor Adda said the clashes erupted at 12:20am on Tuesday night when the Pakistani troops came under fire from across the border in Afghanistan’s Paktika.
“We learnt from Pakistani security officials that one Pakistani soldier was killed and three others were injured in the overnight clash with Afghan forces. Firing between the forces of the two countries continued for more than an hour,” a local tribesman Khaista Noor told The News on telephone from Angoor Adda.
In the morning, he said, members of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) wanted to build a gate on their side of the border when the Afghan border police force arrived and showed resistance.
According to sources, security officials of both the countries exchanged harsh words and the Afghan troops then opened fire at the Pakistani forces.Some reports said two Pakistani security personnel were killed in the firing. However, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said two security personnel were injured in the incident.
Local tribal sources said one Afghan border security official was also killed when Pakistani troops retaliated to their firing on the border. There were no details about the cause of the clash.
However, like some other places on the Durand Line, the Afghan government is having an old claim over ownership of the territory that is located inside Pakistan on Angoor Adda. Besides this, most of the time, militants cross over the border and enter into Afghanistan in the same area and escape towards Pakistani border areas when they come under attack from the Afghan forces in Paktika.