Kabul warns of halting Islamabad talks

The Afghan government has warned that it would pull out of the security talks with Islamabad over alleged cross-border rocket attacks by the Pakistani military.

Mohammad Zahir Azimi, the spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said Sunday that Pakistani helicopters crossed the border and flew over Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar, and accused Islamabad of attempting to “disrupt the second round of presidential elections” in Afghanistan.

Local officials say at least six people were killed and around 40 others injured by rockets fired from Pakistani territory in recent days.

The Afghan National Security Council, chaired by President Hamid Karzai, also condemned the increasing number of rocket attacks by the Pakistani military.

Afghan security officials have already said they will not participate in a regional security summit in Islamabad scheduled on June 4.

Tensions have been on the rise between Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months over cross-border attacks.

On May 27, more than 300 rockets fired from the Pakistani side of the border, landed in different parts of Afghanistan.

Earlier in May, a Pakistani security official was killed by shots fired from Afghanistan in the mountainous border tribal region of Bajaur, which has seen bitter exchanges between the two countries over the demarcation of their border.

Afghanistan and Pakistan decided to resume security talks in April 2013 during a meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Military Chief Ashfaq Kayani in Belgium.