Page 9 - IRANRptDec21

2.4 Iranian and Taliban forces exchange fire ‘after straying herders cause border confusion’
Iranian and Taliban forces on December 1 exchanged fire at a border point, Iranian media reported, with some reports saying the clash occurred after Iranian herders were mistakenly thought to have trespassed on Afghan territory.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, a semi-official media outlet with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that the fighting was over and that the Iranian authorities were discussing the situation with the Taliban. Later on December 1, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement that a “misunderstanding between border residents” had caused the fighting.
Multiple unverified videos posted by websites (such as this footage from Aamaj website) and social media earlier showed Taliban troops mobilising and moving through a burning building. Gunfire could be heard in various videos while some footage showed Iranian forces firing artillery shells in a reaction to Taliban fire directed in the vicinity of the village of Shaghalak in Hirmand county, Iran.
Tasnim described walled areas on Iranian territory near the border with Afghanistan, erected to combat smuggling. Some Iranian herders were thought to have gone beyond the walls but nevertheless were still on Iranian soil—something the Taliban forces were said to have not grasped, causing them to start shooting.
Mohammad Marashi, security deputy for Sistan and Baluchestan’s governor, told Iranian state television that the clashes could not be deemed serious. No harm was caused to personnel or property, he said.
Afghanistan’s TOLO News reported Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi as confirming that Taliban forces and Iranian forces clashed in Afghanistan’s Nimruz Province and adding that the border clashes were over.
Iran has not officially recognised the government formed by the Taliban after the Islamist fundamentalists took full control of Afghanistan in August following the pullout of the last Western forces that were present in the country. Tehran is still pushing for the Taliban to switch to an “inclusive” government that would include representatives of Afghanistan’s Persian-speaking minorities. At the same time, Iran has asked the US to lift sanctions on the Taliban to help address the worsening humanitarian situation in the neighbouring country.
9 IRAN Country Report December 2021 www.intellinews.com