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Pakistan says fence along Durand Line is almost complete
Pakistan’s military has said it’s 2,600km fence along the porous border with Afghanistan will be completed within the next two months.
Speaking to VOA, Pakistan’s army media unit, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Friday the fence has already been installed along about 83 percent of the border and hundreds of new outposts and forts have been built along the line.
The program was launched in 2017 to block militant infiltration, smuggling and other illegal crossings.
ISPR said two three-meter-high mesh fences, a couple of meters apart, have been filled and topped with coils of razor wire, running through rugged terrain and snow-covered, treacherous mountains at elevations as high as 4,000 meters.
The ISPR also told VOA that it has attributed a “massive decrease” in the number of terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan to the border security project but they say Pakistani troops involved in building the fence have also come under militant attacks from the Afghan side and in some cases clashes with Afghan security forces.
The border, or Durand Line as it is commonly referred to in Afghanistan, has historically been disputed as it was an 1893 British colonial era demarcation.
Pakistan rejects the objections and maintains it inherited the international frontier after gaining independence from Britain in 1947.
VOA reported that the Pakistani army is also working on enhancing the security of the country’s more than 900-kilometer southwestern border with Iran and has already fenced off about 30 percent of the frontier.
This project is expected to be finished by the end of 2021, according to the ISPR.
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Pakistan to repatriate nearly 20,000 Afghans awaiting US resettlement
Authorities will also share verified data of the affected individuals with relevant departments to support implementation.
Pakistan will repatriate nearly 20,000 Afghan nationals currently awaiting resettlement in the United States, The Nation reported, citing official sources.
The move affects 19,973 Afghans living across Pakistan.
A federal directive will instruct provincial chief secretaries and police chiefs in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Islamabad Capital Territory to begin the repatriation process immediately.
Authorities will also share verified data of the affected individuals with relevant departments to support implementation.
Following the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021, more than 100,000 Afghans fled to Pakistan, many of whom had worked with the US and UK governments, international organizations, or aid agencies.
Thousands have remained stranded in Pakistan for over four years while awaiting US resettlement clearance.
Prospects for relocation have dimmed amid a suspension of case processing by the US administration, according to The Nation.
Under Pakistan’s Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP), all Afghan nationals still awaiting US relocation will now be returned to Afghanistan.
Terrorist activities continue to be observed along Afghanistan borders and along the India–Pakistan–Afghanistan corridor, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Monday.
Speaking to Russia-based media outlet TV BRICS, Lavrov pointed to ongoing concerns in the Middle East, including its Asian regions.
He highlighted the importance of collaboration with India at the United Nations to advance a global counter-terrorism convention.
Lavrov stated that while the draft convention has already been prepared, consensus on its adoption has not yet been reached.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concern about militant threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed the concerns saying that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against any country.
Noorullah Noori, Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, held a phone conversation with Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, to discuss bilateral border cooperation.
According to the Iranian news agency IRNA, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening border collaboration, with a particular focus on the ongoing renovation and updating of border markers. They also agreed to accelerate joint technical and legal meetings to enhance coordination.
As part of the agreement, the next meeting of senior border officials from Afghanistan and Iran is scheduled to take place in Iran in 1405 (2026–2027).
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