ISLAMABAD: A senior Afghan army general visited Pakistan on Wednesday to discuss alleged Pakistani shelling across the mountainous border that has heightened tensions between the two neighbours, a statement said.
Afghanistan has for months accused Pakistan of staging repeated shelling barrages across the two eastern provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, killing dozens of Afghans and forcing several families to flee their homes.
An Afghan army delegation headed by Major General Afzal Aman discussed the border situation at a meeting with Pakistan's Major General Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the statement said.
“The issue of alleged cross border artillery fire by Pakistan into Afghanistan was discussed in detail,” it said.
The Pakistani general told the Afghan delegation that the “problem stems from terrorist safe havens in Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan, about which intelligence has been repeatedly shared with Afghan authorities.”
“There is absolutely no possibility of indiscriminate fire by Pakistan army on Afghan forces or civilians,” he added, according to the statement.
Afghanistan shares a 2,400-kilometre border with Pakistan, and Taliban and other al Qaeda-linked militants have carved out strongholds on either side.
