Click to see full-size image. Via Twitter.
On May 27, clashes broke out between Iranian troops and Taliban fighters on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan.
The clashes are reportedly taking place in Makaki area at Kang districts in the southwestern Afghan province of Nimruz. The area shares a border with Zabol, which is located in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said that Iranian troops inflicted “heavy casualties and serious damage,” stooping short of identifying those it fired at as the Taliban. However, the semi-official Tasnim News Agency confirmed later that fighters of the group were involved.
Videos that surfaced online from the Iranian-Afghan border showed both sides exchanging heavy machine gun fire as well as mortars.
Tensions have been mounting between Tehran and Kabul as a result of a disagreement over the Helmand River. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi earlier this month warned the Taliban not to violate Iran’s water rights to the river.
The Taliban’s Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met with an Iranian envoy to Afghanistan to discuss the Helmand River water rights on May 27 morning. IRNA acknowledged the meeting, saying “that issues between the two countries will be better resolved through dialogue.”
Iranian troops have clashed with the Taliban on multiple occasions since the group took over Afghanistan after the United States withdrawal around two years ago.
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