CSTO Secretariat responds to situation on Afghan-Pakistani border

ArmInfo. The CSTO Secretariat responded to the situation on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The CSTO Secretariat is closely monitoring the developments on the  border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The organization is  interested in peace and stability in the region and believes that the  only correct solution is a political and diplomatic resolution of the  conflict," the CSTO Secretariat stated.

Earlier, media reported clashes between the armed forces of Pakistan  and Afghanistan. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared the  beginning of an "open war" with the Taliban movement, which currently  rules Afghanistan. According to him, the Taliban government has  turned Afghanistan into a "colony of India," has gathered "terrorists  from all over the world" in the country, and has begun "exporting"  terrorism, while depriving its people of basic rights. Clashes are  reportedly occurring in the Afghan border provinces of Nangarhar,  Nuristan, Kunar, Khost, Paktia, and Paktika. They have also occurred  near the Durand Line, the border unrecognized by Kabul. The Afghan  Times reports that 55 Pakistani soldiers were killed, and 15  Pakistani border posts were destroyed. The Afghan Ministry of Defense  announced that it took retaliatory action in response to Pakistan's  violation of Afghan airspace and the killing of women and children  during recent airstrikes.

Pakistan Prime Minister Mosharraf Zaidi, the country's foreign media  spokesman, reported that, according to the latest figures, 133 Afghan  Taliban fighters have been killed and over 200 wounded in the  clashes.  According to him, 27 Afghan Taliban posts were destroyed  and another nine were captured.