Islamabad urges Kabul to control border attacks

ISLAMABAD        –         Pakistan yesterday urged Afghanistan to control attacks into Pakistani territory as Pakistan reopened Chaman border crossing with neighbouring Afghanistan. This came a week after an Afghan gunman had martyred a Pakistani security guard there, forcing a closure of the crossing. The decision to reopen the Chaman border crossing – also known as Friendship Gate – was taken in a meeting between Pakistani and Afghan authorities over the weekend. The crossing was closed on November 13 when a Pakistani soldier posted at the border was fired upon. Pakistan contacted the Afghan side and urged them to stop such incidents in future as this could harm the bilateral ties, officials told The Nation. The Chaman border, situated nearly 120 kilometres to Quetta, is one of the busiest border crossings between the two countries and is used by thousands of people every day. Earlier, the Taliban government in Afghanistan condemned the incident and ordered the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate it. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the allegations reported in media that the attacker was a member of the Afghan border forces. According to the officials, Pakistan told Afghan counterparts that the borders must be made more secure. “The Afghan side has pledged to ensure more security to stop such incidents in the future,” said one official. On its part, Pakistan has recently removed tariffs and eased visa rules to facilitate trade activities with the conflict-torn country where the United Nations warns millions of Afghans face acute food shortages. Islamabad has also dramatically increased Afghan coal imports since the Taliban returned to power, tilting the annual trade balance in favour of Kabul for the first time in the history of bilateral trade. Pakistan maintains it has no option but to help Afghanistan achieve stability to deter an influx of Afghan refugees and a resurgence of cross-border terrorism. However, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has reiterated that Islamabad would not formally recognize the Taliban government without global consensus.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/22-Nov-2022/islamabad-urges-kabul-to-control-border-attacks-mateen-haider-and