Pakistan Says Afghan Forces Kill 6 Civilians in Cross-Border Fire 

Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
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Pakistan Says Afghan Forces Kill 6 Civilians in Cross-Border Fire 

Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)
Residents gather after Taliban forces fired mortars at Pakistan's border town of Chaman on December 11, 2022. (AFP)

Heavy gunfire and artillery shelling by Afghan border forces killed six civilians across the border in Pakistan on Sunday and wounded another 17, the Pakistan army said. 

Pakistani troops retaliated at the Chaman border crossing in southwestern Balochistan province, the army said in a statement, without giving details of any losses on the other side. 

Afghan official Noor Ahmad, in Kandahar, the province on the Afghan side of the border, told Reuters the incident was accidental and the situation had returned to normal after the two sides had a meeting. 

He gave no further details on any casualties on Afghan side. 

Afghan security sources said the clash started after Pakistani forces demanded that Afghan forces stop building a new check post on their side of the border. 

The Pakistan army statement described the incident as an "uncalled for aggression" and said Pakistani troops had responded proportionately, avoiding the targeting of civilians on the other side. 

"Afghan Border Forces opened unprovoked and indiscriminate fire of heavy weapons including artillery/mortar onto the civilian population," the statement said. 

Pakistan had approached Kabul to demand action to avoid a recurrence of the incident, it said. 

The busy Afghan border crossing at Chaman, used for trade and transit, was closed for some hours before reopening, officials on both sides said. The crossing was closed for several days last month after similar clashes. 



China Anchors ‘Monster Ship’ in South China Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Says

An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
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China Anchors ‘Monster Ship’ in South China Sea, Philippine Coast Guard Says

An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023. (Reuters)

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbor.

The China coastguard's 165-meter "monster ship" entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum.

The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

"It's an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard," Tarriela said. "We're not going to pull out and we're not going to be intimidated."

China's embassy in Manila and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's coast guard has no publicly available contact information.

The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel, Tarriela said.

In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal to deter small-scale reclamation by China, which denied the claim. China has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in the South China Sea, building air force and other military facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.

China claims most of the South China Sea, a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, as its own territory. Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.

Following a high-level dialogue, the Philippines and China agreed on Tuesday for the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild confidence" to better manage maritime disputes.

The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States, its treaty ally, to assist operations in the South China Sea, despite a flare-up with China over routing resupply missions to Filipino troops on a contested shoal.