Iran border guards clash with Afghanistan’s Taliban

TEHRAN, Iran — Clashes break out between Iranian border guards and Taliban forces, officials say, with the Afghan side confirming one of their border officers was killed and another wounded.

Both sides accused the other of opening fire first.

“There was a clash between the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban forces,” Meysam Barazandeh, governor of Iran’s Hirmand county, is quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

He adds that “the conflict was brief and has ended.”

Fars reports that clashes took place on the Iranian side of the border, in the Shaghalak area of Hirmand country, in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

“A border violation by the Taliban took place today,” Barazandeh says, adding that “our forces gave the necessary response,” and that there “were no casualties” on the Iranian side.

In #Afghanistan, #Iranian soldiers killed a #Taliban member, another was injured. The incident took place in the province of #Nimroz bordering #Iran. What caused the clash is still unknown. The Taliban deployed additional manpower and equipment to the region pic.twitter.com/iwyLWAE7Ow

— Middle East Update (@islamicworldupd) July 31, 2022

Iran’s Tasnim news agency says Taliban forces shot at some houses in the town of Dust Mohammad, which was followed by an exchange of fire “for several minutes.”

A statement issued by Afghanistan’s Nimroz provincial information center blamed Iranian border guards for the incident.

“Iranian border forces fired at a patrol of our border forces in Kang district of Nimroz province,” the statement says.

“After that they (Iranian forces) fired in the area with light and heavy weapons. In this shooting, one of our border force personnel was martyred and another injured,” it adds.

Iran, like many other nations, has so far not recognized the new government formed by the Taliban after it took power amid a hasty withdrawal by US-led foreign forces in August 2021.