(Today’s Prayer) Five killed in clashes along Pakistan-Afghan border; clashes erupt shortly after peace talks collapse.

Just a week after peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapsed, another bloody border clash has left five civilians, including children, dead. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire to halt the armed conflict that has persisted since October, but they failed to resolve their differences over the issue of the TTP (Tehrik-E Taliban Pakistan) in Pakistan, leading to renewed fighting.

According to AP and Reuters on the 6th (local time), fierce fighting erupted between border guards on both sides from the previous night to the early hours of the morning in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, and the Chaman border area in Pakistan.

Afghan official Ali Mohammad Hakmal stated, "Five civilians, including three children and one woman, were killed and five others injured due to Pakistani artillery fire." Pakistan, on the other hand, claimed that three of its own civilians were injured by Afghan fire.

Both sides are blaming each other for the cause of the clashes. While the Afghan Taliban authorities claimed that the Pakistani army had provoked them by throwing grenades, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's spokesman denied the claims, saying that the Taliban had fired unprovoked shots and that they had responded to defend their territory. The clashes came a day after Pakistan opened the Chaman border crossing, which had previously been closed, to allow UN aid to be delivered to Afghanistan.

Experts point out that this clash was predictable. Last week, peace talks between Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey, held in Saudi Arabia, ended without any concrete results.

At the heart of the conflict is the Tehrik-E Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Since the Afghan Taliban seized power, the Pakistani government has accused the TTP, which shares its ideology, of using Afghan territory as a sanctuary and plotting terrorist attacks within Pakistan. Indeed, the Pakistani military killed nine TTP militants in a separate operation along the border that day. The Afghan Taliban, however, has denied allegations of protecting the TTP, stating, "Don't blame us for Pakistan's lack of security."

Source: Asia Today

You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. (Habakkuk 3:13)

Just one week after peace talks between Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan collapsed, bloody clashes erupted between border guards on both sides, resulting in the deaths of five civilians. This violence occurred just one day after Pakistan permitted border passage for UN relief supplies destined for Afghanistan.

Lord, comfort the hearts of the border residents who lost family members in the clash between the two border guards. Grant healing grace to the bodies and souls of the wounded. Save the border residents of Pakistan and Afghanistan, who suffer from ongoing conflict, through the love of Jesus.

The peace talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime have collapsed due to conflicting views on the Pakistani Taliban. As both sides blame each other for the cause of this clash, we pray that Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, will rule over them so that this does not lead to renewed conflict between the two nations.

Lord, strike the head of the Pakistani Taliban and expose those behind them. May the commanders who do not value life and the ideology of their organization lose their power. May the spirit of Islamic extremism and division be exposed to its very foundations in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Rescue and protect the persecuted churches and Your people in Afghanistan under Taliban rule until the end. Grant the Afghan church the faith to overcome persecution until You strike the head of the wicked house. May the churches of Afghanistan and Pakistan become those who raise up biblical leaders to guide the next generation of their nations.

May the global church wage an all-out spiritual offensive for the souls of Afghanistan and Pakistan, countering the Taliban's tyranny with prayer and fulfilling the role of a spiritual supply unit.

Thus, may Pakistan and Afghanistan boldly raise up the FM 1% as the ultimate weapon of the holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, preparing the nations for the Lord's return!