Taliban soldier killed in clash with Iran border guards

TEHRAN: Clashes broke out Sunday between Iranian border guards and Taliban forces, officials said, with the Afghan side confirming one of their border officers was killed and another wounded.

Both sides accused the other of opening fire first.“There was a clash between the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban forces”, said Meysam Barazandeh, governor of Iran’s Hirmand county. He added, “the conflict was brief and has ended.”

Clashes took place on the Iranian side of the border, in the Shaghalak area of Hirmand country, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.“A border violation by the Taliban took place today,” Barazandeh said, adding “our forces gave the necessary response”, and that there “were no casualties” on the Iranian side.

A statement issued by Afghanistan’s Nimroz provincial information centre blamed Iranian border guards for the incident.“Iranian border forces fired at a patrol of our border forces in Kang district of Nimroz province,” the statement said.

“After that they (Iranian forces) fired in the area with light and heavy weapons. In this shooting, one of our border force personnel was martyred and another injured,” it added.Last month, Iran’s foreign ministry reported the death of an Iranian border guard in an “incident” at a border crossing with Afghanistan, also in Sistan-Baluchestan.