This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Two Iranian border guards and one Taliban fighter were killed after the two sides exchange gunfire on the Islamic republic’s border with Afghanistan.
The incident on May 27 came amid tensions between the two countries over water rights.
Both sides accused each other of starting the shooting.
The official government news agency IRNA quoted Brigadier General Qasem Rezaei, deputy commander of the national police as saying that a border outpost in southeastern Iran had come under “heavy attack” by the Taliban, prompting a “a decisive and courageous counteraction” from Iranian border guards.
“The Taliban forces initiated the assault in contravention of international law and principles of good neighborliness,” Rezai said.
IRNA said that following the border skirmishes, Brigadier General Ahmadreza Radan, chief commander of the national police, issued a directive to the border guards, asking them to “defend the borders bravely and decisively and not allow any trespassing or encroachment.”
A Taliban spokesman said two people were killed in the clashes while accusing Iranian forces of shooting first.
“Today, in Nimroz Province, Iranian border forces fired toward Afghanistan, which was met with a counter-reaction,” a spokesman for the Taliban-run Interior Ministry, Abdul Nafi Takor, said in a statement. “During the battle, one person was killed on each side and many were injured.”
“The situation is under control now. The Islamic Emirate does not want to fight with its neighbors,” Takor added.
Taliban Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khowarazmi confirmed the clashes in the Kang district of Nimroz Province while calling for “dialogue and negotiations.”
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan considers dialogue and negotiation to be a reasonable way for any problem. Making excuses for war and negative actions is not in the interest of any of the parties,” Khowarazmi said.
Iranian news agencies confirmed the death of two Iranian border guards. IRNA said two civilians had been injured in the incident. The semiofficial Mehr news agency reported that a main border crossing with Afghanistan had been closed following the exchange of fire.
Earlier, the hard-line Fars news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said the clashes ended after “a short time.” Fars said the two sides had convened a meeting to investigate the cause of “the tensions.”
It wasn’t clear what provoked the incident.
HalVash, a Baluch rights group, posted a video and photos that it said were from the area where Iranian forces and the Taliban engaged in “heavy” clashes and exchange of fire.
RFE/RL could not independently verify the footage.
The clashes follow a warning by Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi who on May 18 called the de facto Taliban regime in Afghanistan not to violate Iran’s water rights to the Helmand River.
According to the 1973 agreement, Afghanistan is obligated to provide Iran with 850 million cubic meters of water annually from the Helmand River. Iran has accused Afghanistan of not complying with the accord, an allegation that Kabul rejects. Disputes over the distribution of cross-border water supplies have plagued relations between the two neighbors for decades.
Taliban officials have repeatedly claimed that due to low water levels, even if they opened the Kajaki Dam, nothing would reach Iran.
Water from the 1,150-kilometer (690-mile) Helmand River, Afghanistan’s longest, feeds the Hamun Lake in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The region relies heavily on the lake, and officials say it has suffered major issues because of a persistent lack of water.
