Afghan Taliban stop Pakistan army from fencing international border: report

Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan disrupted the erecting of a security fence by the Pakistani military along the border between the two countries, claimed a Reuters report on Wednesday.

Read more: US lauds Pakistan’s efforts for hosting OIC moot to address Afghan crisis

The report quoted Afghan defence ministry spokesperson Enayatullah Khwarazmi as saying that the Taliban stopped the Pakistani military from erecting a border fence along with the eastern province of Nangarhar on Sunday.

However, he added everything was now normal. The Pakistan army did not respond to a request for comment, the report claimed.

A video circulated on social media showed the Taliban had seized spools of barbed wire and told Pakistani soldiers in the distance not to try to fence the border again.

Reuters said it could not verify the video independently. Meanwhile, the Taliban said they were investigating the incident.

Pakistan has fenced most of the 2,600 km (1,615 miles) border despite protestations from Kabul.

Taliban and Pakistani forces came face-to-face over the border incident, two Taliban officials told Reuters on the condition of anonymity, and the situation was tense.

Read more: Pakistan welcomes UN resolution on Afghanistan

The border incident happened the day foreign delegates from around the world gathered in Islamabad for a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the unfolding humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan.