No Possibility of Border Clashes Between Taliban and Iran Turning Serious, Says Kabulov

The establishment of these outposts assumes significance as in April, Tajikistan’s Committee of National Security had announced that a security force member of this country had been killed in a clash at the Afghanistan border.

National Security Committee of Tajikistan did not announce the identity of the security force member, however, sources told Afghanistan International that it was Kamran Rajabzada, head of border forces of Badakhshan province in Tajikistan, who had been shot dead.

Local sources told Afghanistan International that Rajabzada’s corpse had been handed to his family and buried on April 28.

The establishment of the new two outposts near Afghanistan coincides with the 29th anniversary of the formation of the border forces of Tajikistan.

Tajikistan’s presidency said that the new outposts have been equipped with modern miliary equipment.

On October 14, 2022, Emomali Rahmon, in a meeting with the leaders of Russia and Central Asian countries, had announced that tens of thousands of militants including "suicide bombers" are being trained in Afghanistan. He, then, ordered his country’s security forces that proceedings for confronting with terrorism threats should get increased.

On Saturday, two Iranian border guards had been killed in the clash between Taliban and Iran at the Abrisham border in Nimroz province. Taliban also confirmed that one of their members had been killed.

In his new statement, Iran’s Minister of Interior tried to downplay the clash with the Taliban. According to the Iranian media, Vahidi described the border clash with Taliban as “short”.

According to the Tasnim News Agency, Vahidi said, “An appropriate response has been given to the Afghanistan border guards. There was a short clash and has been resolved. Negotiations were also held with the Taliban side.”

Taliban also said that they didn’t want conflict with Iran and the border situation between the two countries is under control.

Taliban and Iran have provided different explanations about this conflict. Taliban’s spokesperson for Ministry of Interior said that this clash began when the Iranian border guards opened fire at the Taliban check post.

However, Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Sunday, wrote that Iranian border guards started shooting when a caravan of drug traffickers entered the country from Afghanistan soil.

Following the recent verbal tensions between the Iranian and Taliban officials over the water rights issue, there were concerns over the rising border clashes. Abolfazl Zohrevand, former ambassador of Iran to Afghanistan, called the military tension between Iran and the Taliban a "very serious war".

He told Entekhab website, “Everything cannot be said in the media, but in general, the Taliban are a destabilizing component in the region. There are worrying trends going on between Iran and Afghanistan.”

At the same time, Qasim Rezaei, successor of Iran’s Commander in Chief and Kioumars Heydari, Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces visited border areas with Afghanistan in Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran.

Afghanistan International sources said that some of the Taliban fighters and civilians have been injured in this clash.

According to the sources, eight members of a family got injured by mortal shell in Nimroz province.

Another source said that the number of injured is higher than the reported figure.

According to Afghanistan International’s sources, the Taliban also transferred their injured to the hospital. Pictures show several people in front of the Zaranj provincial hospital.

Sources said that the clash lasted for at least four hours.

Pictures also indicated that Iranian border guards used heavy weapons during the attack on Taliban positions. The Taliban has not yet made any comment on the matter.

Earlier too, Afghanistan and Iran witnessed armed clashes at the borders. Haalvsh News Agency in early May reported that an Iranian border guard had been killed in a clash with the Taliban in the Nimroz border region.

The meeting, held on May 25-26 in Ashgabat, in a joint statement said that they discussed the economic situation in Afghanistan and how to continue cooperation in assisting the people of Afghanistan.

Special Representatives and Special Envoys for Afghanistan of the European Union, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and the EU Special Representative for Central Asia were the participants.

The joint statement also focused on urging the Taliban to lift all bans on Afghan girls and women restricting their rights to education, work and participation in public life. It said that the bans – beyond being serious human rights violations – are having detrimental effects on the ability of the international community to deliver humanitarian aid to the Afghan people, and need to be lifted for the Afghan economy to prosper, and ultimately for Afghanistan to achieve long-term stability and peace.

The statement said that terrorism, violent extremism, drug trafficking and other illicit cross border activities, will negatively impact the region. The participants called on the Taliban to prevent the Afghan territory from being used as a safe haven for hosting, planning, training, financing or exporting terrorism and violent extremism to other countries.

The participants also reaffirmed their strong commitment to the people of Afghanistan and underlined the importance of the establishment of an inclusive and representative government and of upholding civil, political, social economic and cultural rights of all Afghans.

The statement also expressed grave concerns regarding the increasing erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the dire economic and humanitarian situation.

Mahami, who represents Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, in his Friday prayer sermon in Zahedan city, called the warning of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi to the Taliban as "satisfying for the people of Sistan and Baluchistan" and asked for follow ups of the water rights issue.

According to the Iran Student News Agency (ISNA), Mahami connected the water rights issue to the US and said, "When the Kamal Khan dam project started, we reported to the capital of the country, but no one took any action." According to him, it was US’ agenda to prevent the flow of water from Kajaki dam to Iran.

Over the past weeks, Iran's water rights claim from Helmand River has escalated tension between the Islamic Republic and the Taliban.Earlier, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi warned the Taliban officials to allocate the share of water for Sistan and Baluchistan from the Helmand River. He said that the Taliban should take his warning seriously and "not complain later that we weren't told”.

The Taliban reacted to Raisi’s statement and said that there is not enough water in the Helmand River.

However, the Islamic Republic does not accept the Taliban’s claim of lack of water in the Helmand River and said that the Taliban should allow Iranian experts to visit the dams and confirm the Taliban’s claims.