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KABUL: Clashes that erupted between Iran’s border forces and the Taliban near the Afghan province of Nimroz have ended, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said on Wednesday, adding that the fighting was a mere “border misunderstanding”.
“Clashes ended and Iran is discussing the dispute over the border with the Taliban,” Tasnim said.
Heavy fighting took place between Iran’s border guards and the Taliban along the border Wednesday in northeastern Iran, with reports of casualties on both sides.
The clashes erupted when the Taliban reportedly overran the Dost Mohammad and Bala Siah Cheshman border posts belonging to Iran in the Shagalak area that connects to Nimroz province.
But Tasnim said reports over the capture of an Iranian border camp by the Taliban were false.
Fighting was fueled by a wall that Iran has been constructing along its largely porous border with Afghanistan to prevent illegal crossings and drug trafficking, according to reports.
The Taliban claims that the wall is constructed on the zero point of the border, and not on the Iranian side. Tehran rejects the claim. The Taliban allegedly targeted farmers who came close to the wall that the group claims is the zero point, reports said. It prompted Iranian border guards to open fire at the Taliban across the border, resulting in fierce clashes that lasted more than five hours.
Videos shared online showed border checkpoints set ablaze by the heavily armed Taliban fighters, with complete chaos at the border point.
