A Taliban spokesperson and Iranian state media said on Saturday that gunfire at a border post between Iran and Afghanistan claimed the lives of three people: two Iranian border guards and one Taliban fighter.
The event, which also resulted in multiple injuries and was not immediately apparent what caused it, occurred as tensions between the two nations over water rights rose.
Iran has charged Afghanistan's Taliban leaders of breaking the terms of a 1973 deal by preventing water from the Helmand river from reaching Iran's arid eastern provinces. The Taliban have refuted this claim.
The Taliban-run interior ministry's spokesperson, Abdul Nafi Takor, issued a statement saying that Iranian border soldiers had shot at Afghanistan today in the Nimroz region and that there had been a response.
“The problem is now under control. The official made the statement without naming the victims: “The Islamic Emirate does not wish to engage in conflict with its neighbors.
Although Iran's official IRNA news agency subsequently reported that two Iranian border guards had been murdered and two Iranian civilians had been wounded, he claimed that one person had been killed on each side and numerous more were hurt.
The Milak-Zaranj border post, a significant commercial crossing and not the scene of the altercation, has been closed by Iranian officials after the incident until further notice, according to IRNA.
According to Qasem Rezaei, Iran's deputy police head, Taliban fighters began firing at the Sasoli checkpoint without abiding by international law or being a good neighbor, prompting a swift reaction, according to IRNA.
IRNA stated that the Iranian border guards made a statement in which they claimed to have “used their superior heavy fire to inflict casualties and serious damage,” without going into more detail.
The spokesperson for the Taliban defense ministry, Enayatullah Khowarazmi, stated: “Unfortunately, today there was a shooting by Iranian soldiers in the border areas of Kong district of Nimroz province, (and) a conflict… broke out.”
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan believes that diplomacy and dialogue are fair solutions to any issue. It is not in the interests of any of the parties to justify hostilities and destructive behavior, Khowarazmi stated.
Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, issued a warning to the Taliban earlier in May about their disdain for Iran's water rights under the 1973 deal. The Taliban disregarded Raisi's alleged threat, and a video that went viral featured a former Taliban official making fun of Raisi.
