One killed, five hurt as Afghan fire hits Angoor Adda; Kundi warns Kabul

A resident of Angoor Adda in Lower South Waziristan was killed and five members of one family were hurt when Afghan forces opened fire across the border on Tuesday night, officials said, according to Dawn. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s governor, Faisal Karim Kundi, condemned the attack on Wednesday and warned the Afghan Taliban regime that Pakistan would “never tolerate” attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty.

What happened

Afghan security forces opened what officials called unprovoked fire on Pakistan Army border posts and on residential areas of Angoor Adda. A mortar landed on a family’s house, killing a local resident and injuring five members of the family. Several shops in the bazaar were damaged. The deputy commissioner of Lower South Waziristan confirmed the casualties in a post on X and said Pakistan’s forces “have and are responding effectively and heavily”.

Officials told Dawn the fire came from posts inside Afghan territory and used sniper, small and heavy weapons. Sources said Pakistani forces hit multiple Afghan Taliban border posts, mortar positions and defensive bunkers with small arms and artillery, and that the “intense and accurate response” forced the Taliban to leave their posts. These accounts come from Pakistani officials and sources. The reports we drew on carry no comment from Kabul.

The governor’s message

On X, Kundi condemned what he called “unprovoked and blatant aggression by the Afghan Taliban regime against civilian homes and Angoor Adda Bazaar”. He praised the army for a “swift, forceful and decisive response”. “Let the Afghan Taliban regime have no illusions: Pakistan will never tolerate attacks on its people or violations of its sovereignty,” he wrote. He added that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had “sacrificed thousands of lives in the fight against terrorism” and that the armed forces had “the full backing of the nation to defend every inch of our soil”. His information adviser, Samar Haroon Bilour, said the “cowards” had struck at night once again.

A crossing that matters

The border at Angoor Adda is one of the most important along the Pakistan-Afghanistan line. It is a major trade route and one of the main points where people move between the two countries. Dawn described violations from the Afghan side as “a routine matter” on this border.

The pattern this year

Relations have been strained for years over Pakistan’s concern about militants using Afghan soil to attack it. This year’s flare-ups, as Dawn lists them:

• February 26: Operation Ghazab lil Haq began in response to what Pakistan called unprovoked cross-border firing, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
• September: Pakistan said it shot down eight drones that entered its airspace near Torkham and Kohat, and carried out what it called precision aerial and drone strikes at 10 locations in Afghanistan. On September 21 it also conducted “calibrated” airstrikes in the border region, which the government said killed more than 28 terrorists. A demarche over the September 23 airspace violation was delivered on September 26, the Foreign Office said.
• October 1: the information ministry said Pakistan again carried out “well-planned and calibrated” airstrikes against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan.
• Mid-October: state media reported security forces responding to firing from Afghan forces in Upper Kurram.

Read our report on the army chief’s pledge to “hit hard” Indian-sponsored militants.

What to watch

The reports do not say whether Pakistan will take the matter up formally with the Afghan authorities, as it did with the demarche in September, or whether the crossing will close. They also do not say what help the family who lost a relative and had their house hit will receive. For people who live and trade at Angoor Adda, the question is simply whether the next night will be quiet.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.