KABUL / PESHAWAR: Taliban militants in Afghanistan have disrupted the installation of a Pakistani military barrier on the border between the two countries, Afghan officials said on Wednesday.
Pakistan has been a large part of the 2,600 km (1,615 miles) border despite protests from Kabul, which have been protesting against the demarcation of the British era that divides families and nations on both sides.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said Taliban troops had stopped Pakistani troops from building an “illegal” border fence in the eastern province of Nangarhar on Sunday.
Also Read: Afghanistan suffered due to Pakistan’s policy of harbouring Terrorists
He postponed the incident and said everything was normal. The Pakistani military did not respond to a request for comment.
A video circulating on social media shows Taliban soldiers seizing barbed wire and another senior official warns Pakistani soldiers stationed in remote security not to try to fence the border again.
Reuters could not verify the video independently.
Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi said they were investigating the incident.
Taliban and Pakistani troops met face-to-face at the border crossing, two Taliban officials told Reuters of the incident, and the situation was tense.
They added that following the incident there was a fire crossing the border from Pakistan in the northern part of the province of Kunar province in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if the incidents were related. The officials said helicopters from Afghan soldiers could be seen roaming the area.
Fencing was a major factor in the deterioration of relations between the former Afghan governments backed by the US and Islamabad. The current disagreement shows that the issue is still a contentious issue for the Taliban, even though they are close to Islamabad.
Also Read: Hundreds of Afghan ex-military personnel dead or missing
Foreign governments have long suspected that Pakistan is backing the rebels as they fight against the US government and Western forces – the Islamabad case denies.
The illegal mountain border was a historic liquid before Pakistan began building a steel fence four years ago, which has already completed 90 percent.
The border incident took place on the day foreign diplomats from around the world gathered in Islamabad for a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.