Border Firefights Highlight Strained Pakistan-Taliban Relations

Pakistani border guards and Afghan Taliban fighters exchanged fire on September 6, the latest flare-up along the disputed border. Both sides accused each other of starting the firefight. In response, Islamabad has closed a key crossing, leaving hundreds of trucks and thousands of people on both sides of the border stranded. On the same day as the border clashes erupted, the Pakistani military said four soldiers had been killed in clashes with militants in the northwestern Chitral district, which borders eastern Afghanistan. The Tehrik-e Taliban…