One Afghan Dead, Says Taliban After Border Clashes With Iran

There have been several border clashes between the two after the Taliban took control in August last year.

Image used for representation only.

(Photo: iStock)

Forces of Afghanistan's Taliban clashed with Iran's border guards on the border on Sunday, 31 July. Both countries accused the other of provoking the clash.

One Taliban solider was also reportedly killed in the fighting. "We have one killed and one wounded," Nimroz police spokesperson Bahram Haqmal told news agency Reuters.

On the other hand, an Iranian news agency said that the clashes erupted after the Taliban's forces tried to raise their flag "in an area which is not Afghan territory."

This led to an exchange of fire that lasted for "several minutes."

There have been several border clashes between Iran and Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the latter in August last year.

The Taliban and Iran almost went to war in 1998 when the former laid siege to the Iranian embassy in Mazar-e-Sharif and killed multiple Iranian diplomats.

Iran-Taliban relations have been heated since then, but they are showing signs of cooling down because after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Iran does not want Afghanistan to become a launchpad for Sunni extremist terrorist groups like the IS-K, while the Taliban wants the support of regional countries to establish a government, which can engage in regional trade.

(With inputs from Reuters and the BBC.)