Clashes between Iranian and Taliban forces resume in the border area of Nimroz province
Afghan media reports indicate renewed clashes between Iranian and Afghan border forces in the border area of Nimroz province. Forces from both sides clashed in this area in December of this year.
The Etelaat Rooz newspaper wrote in this regard that the clash occurred on the evening of Monday, March 6, when "the Iranians intended to dredge" the "Sikhsar" canal, but forces affiliated with the Taliban prevented this, saying that the canal belonged to Afghanistan.
According to the newspaper, heavy weapons were used in the clash, an Iranian bulldozer caught fire, and “at least four Iranian border guards were killed.” Taliban and Iranian officials have not confirmed this news.
The Afghan newspaper Hasht Sobh also published news of the clash and the killing of two Iranian border guards, but deleted the news after a few hours.
Videos of clashes in a region of Afghanistan have also been posted on social media, but it is not clear when exactly these images were taken.
In mid-December of this year, limited clashes between Taliban forces and the border guards of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Nimroz province of Afghanistan, along with artillery fire, were reported.
At that time, the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, wrote in explaining these events: "In the Shagalak area near Nimroz Province, a clash occurred between Iranian border guards and the Taliban over a border misunderstanding" and "Taliban forces fired at Iranian forces, which were responded to by an exchange of fire from Iranian forces."
Although the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has good relations with the Taliban, the borders of Iran and Afghanistan are facing tension and crisis due to drug trafficking, water problems, and the flight of the country's people from the Taliban's rule.
Part of these problems stem from the construction of the Zahak-Hirmand border wall between the two countries, which has resulted in two thousand hectares of agricultural land in Zahak and Hirmand being enclosed behind this wall, and farmers must use a special traffic card to access their lands.
In the first conflict, Islamic Republic officials reported that after the farmers crossed the security wall, Taliban forces thought they had crossed the border and opened fire on them.
Another crisis concerns the Helmand River. Iran and Afghanistan have been at odds for years over the rights to the Helmand River and Lake Hamun due to an unprecedented drought in the region. The Helmand River Agreement was signed between Tehran and Kabul in 1972, but in the late 1970s, as monsoon rains decreased, the water level in Lake Hamun, the main source of water for the Helmand River, reached a minimum.
On February 28, some citizens of northern Sistan and Baluchestan province gathered in front of the Milk border terminal on the Iran-Afghanistan border to protest the failure to receive Helmand's rights and the failure to release the Kamal Khan dam, and this gathering led to limited clashes.
In late January of this year, reports were published about the opening of the Kamal Khan Dam in Afghanistan to Iran, but the Taliban denied these reports.
At the same time, Hossein Modarres Khiabani, the governor of Sistan and Baluchestan, said that by releasing water from the Kamal Khan Dam, the half-full wells in the Sistan region, whose reserves had been reduced to a quarter due to drought, would be filled and the water problem in the region would be solved for the year 1401.
Reports from Afghanistan indicate that heavy rainfall in Afghanistan has completely filled the Kamal Khan Dam reservoir and water has overflowed its walls.
This dam was built on the Hirmand River and overflows into Lake Hamun, which is shared between Iran and Afghanistan, and the protesting people of Sistan and Baluchestan province are demanding the release of its water.
Source: Radio Farda
