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Pakistan completes 94% of border fence, despite ‘isolated’ incidents
The Pakistani military has said the fencing project along the Durand Line with Afghanistan will continue despite issues raised in recent weeks.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar said on Wednesday that 94% of the border fence has been completed and that work on the remaining section continues.
“We are totally focused, and under the western border management regime, the work that is underway will be completed sometime soon.”
He also said the border management process would be improved.
“The blood of our martyrs was spilled in erecting this fence. It is a fence of peace. It will be completed and will remain [in place].”
Although the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) considers good relations with Pakistan to be a priority, footage published on social media that emerged this week allegedly shows IEA border forces destroying sections of the fence.
Iftikhar made it clear that Pakistan considers the Durand Line as the international border between the two countries. “It is an internationally recognised border,” he added.
When asked whether the government had raised the issue with the Afghan government, about the damage, Iftikhar said western border management had “local and strategic dynamics”.
He said the recent damage to the fence, allegedly by IEA forces, was “one or two localised problems”, which he said was being discussed by the governments of both countries.
“We have very good relations. We understand each other and keep talking about different issues that keep surfacing. There is no problem, fencing is underway and will continue.”
“The fencing should be stopped as a first step and the issue should be resolved through diplomacy. If the former government officials have signed any agreement with Pakistan on this issue, they should be held accountable to the Afghan people,” said Mohammad Saddiq Shinwari, an Afghan military analyst.
Since the beginning of the Islamic Emirate’s take over in the country, Pakistan has said the Afghan border forces have repeatedly clashed with the Pakistani military over the fencing.
However, the Islamic Emirate does not consider the matter a serious problem between them and officials have said that the improvement of relations with neighboring countries is a priority and that the fence problems are isolated incidents.
“The position of the Islamic Emirate is that it wants good relations with all countries, especially neighboring countries, and the small clashes that have occurred near the zero points are at the local level, and any concerns have been resolved and we do not have any concerns at the border or line level between the two countries,” said Bilal Karimi, IEA’s deputy spokesman.
Two days ago, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also reacted to the Afghan forces’ move to stop the fencing and said that Pakistan will continue fencing the border.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs has met with Erik Zhumangarin, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, and discussed the establishment of a railway network from Kazakhstan to Pakistan through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, the deputy PM’s office said in a statement.
During the meeting, Baradar emphasized the need to sign agreements to solve the banking problems of traders from both countries, the creation of Afghan-Kazakh joint companies, and the facilitation of visas for Afghan traders.
According to the statement, the Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan said that the Kazakh government intends to establish a joint chamber of industry and commerce and a joint trade and labor group between the two countries, and is ready to cooperate with Afghanistan in the sectors of e-governance, industry, higher education, education, health, and banking.
Following a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to further expand commercial and economic cooperation and transform the common border of the two countries from a “border of peace” to “border of prosperity”.
The two leaders also strongly condemned aggressions and crimes of Israel in Gaza, and demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, as well as unimpeded humanitarian access to the besieged people of Gaza.
Numerous other issues were also discussed but on the topic of Afghanistan, they jointly declared their commitment to the development of Afghanistan as a peaceful, united, independent country free from the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking.
According to the statement the two countries pointed out that the existence of terrorist organizations in Afghanistan is a serious threat to the security of the region and the world.
The two sides stressed their desire to strengthen cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism and ensuring security and creating a united front against terrorism.
They also discussed the importance of coordinating regional and international efforts to ensure security and stability in the region.
“While respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, the two sides recognized that increasing participation of all strata of Afghans in basic decision-making will lead to the strengthening of peace and stability in this country,” the statement read.
The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriations (MoRR) says over 1,000 Afghan migrants were forcibly returned from Pakistan on Tuesday through Spin Boldak border crossing in Kandahar province, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry stated that based on information provided by the Spin Boldak Kandahar border command, these returnees comprised 191 families, totalling 998 people.
In addition, three migrants released from Pakistani prisons were also returned, according to the statement.
The statement added that after registering the returnees, the refugees were referred to the offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Each family received 10,000 afghanis – paid to them by the Islamic Emirate.
In another statement, the ministry said that 2,783 migrants living in Iran voluntarily and forcibly returned to the country during this week.
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