Kunar Province Vows Jihad if Cross-Border Shelling Continues

Residents of eastern Kunar province are registering their names to be included in a fighting force to take on Pakistan if the cross-border shelling into the province is not stopped.

Kunar residents and local officials on Wednesday blamed the Afghan government for not taking the shelling seriously, claiming that all the people including women and children are ready to defend their province and stand against Pakistan.

Kunar senator Rafiullah Haidari said that a tribal meeting held during the past Eid holiday took a decision to declare "Jihad" and respond in equal force if the shelling continues.

"On the fourth day of Eid, tribal elders held a meeting at the provincial governor's office and decided to declare Jihad against Pakistan's invasion into Kunar province. The residents of Kunar are registering their names to defend their soil," Haidari said.

Kunar provincial governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahedi believes that Pakistan's cross border shelling is a clear invasion into Afghanistan and it will result in massive uprisings against Pakistan.

"This is a clear invasion. The monitoring balloons above us are filming everything very clearly. They have political, cultural and traditional hostilities against Afghanistan," he said.

However, he was not confident that the foreign forces present in Afghanistan will help the situation in Kunar.

"The countries who have signed agreements with us are not interested in worsening their relations with Pakistan for the sake of Afghanistan," Wahidi said.

The porous border between Pakistan and Kunar is estimated to stretch for 240 kilometers. It has been the site of numerous attacks over the years. But Kunar residents and officials have complain of the rockets being fired into its territory from other side of border for one and a half years already.

According to local reports, an estimated 5,000 rockets have landed in Kunar with around 37 casualties and hundreds more displaced at times when the rockets have intensified.