Kabul, May 8 : The Islamic State (IS) extremist group claimed it fired a number of rockets from Afghanistan into the territory of neighbouring Tajikistan, according to an Afghan media reports.
The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) news agency reported that an IS press release claimed the militants fired seven rockets from the Khawaja Ghar district of Afghanistan’s Takhar Province toward unspecified military targets in Tajikistan on May 7, RFE/RL reported.
But in a statement, Tajikistan said that “bullets, not rockets”, were fired “accidentally” into Tajik territory during a firefight on the Afghan side of the border between Taliban forces and IS militants.
The press centre of the State Committee for National Security said border troops have been put on alert, but added that the situation at the border “is considered stable and is under control” after “bullets accidentally crossed the territory of our country”, RFE/RL reported.
No casualties were reported. Neither account could be verified independently and there was no confirmation by the Taliban.
The local IS affiliate, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (IS-K), is a foe of the Taliban group that took over Afghanistan in August following a blitz offensive amid the withdrawal of US-led international troops.
IS-K has claimed responsibility for a series of recent bombings, the worst of which was an attack last month on a mosque and religious school in the northern province of Kunduz that killed at least 33 people. (IANS)