Iranian border guards and Afghan Taliban opened fire at their shared border on Sunday, the two countries said, with the Taliban reporting the death of one of their own. Iranian and Taliban forces blame each other for opening fire. “A clash broke out between border guards from Iran and Taliban troops” in Hirmand County in Sistan-Balochistan province (southeast), Meysam Barazandeh, the region’s governor, said, quoted by Iran’s Fars news agency. “The Taliban crossed the border illegally and Iranian forces retaliated,” he added. The clash was “brief” and “no casualties” were reported off the Iranian coast, he added without giving further details.
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According to the Tasnim news agency, Taliban troops shot at houses in the border village of Dust Mohammad in Hirmand. Across the border, authorities in Nimroz province in south-west Afghanistan reported the death of one member of the Taliban security forces and one other wounded. “Iranian border guards opened fire on a patrol of our border guards in Kang district of Nimroz province,” a statement said.
At the end of June, according to Tehran, an Iranian border guard was killed in an “incident” at a border crossing with Afghanistan in the same province. Iran, like many other countries, has so far failed to recognize the new government formed by the Taliban since they seized power in August 2021 following the hasty withdrawal of foreign forces. Iran has long had strained relations with the Taliban.
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