- Pakistan resumes construction of gate at Torkham border, registers protest with Afghanistan over martyrdom of Major Ali Jawad Khan
- Kabul urges end to Torkham dispute through political means
The border authorities of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday formally agreed to a ceasefire at Torkham and waved white flags on both sides of the border.
According to security sources, the border authorities of the two sides met for a short meeting following which they waved white flags on their respective sides.
Earlier, amid high tensions and intermittent fire, Pakistan had resumed construction of a gate at Torkham border while security men on both sides f the border remained on high alert.
Meanwhile Afghan President Ashraf Ghani chaired an emergency meeting of the Afghan Security Council to discuss the border issue and said it could only be resolved through diplomacy.
The construction work on Torkham gate was also resumed following the ceasefire announcement.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary on Wednesday called in Afghan Ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge Pakistan’s strong protest over the martyrdom of Major Ali Jawad Khan, an officer of the Pakistan Army, who was injured on June 13 due to firing by Afghan security forces at the Torkham border crossing. The Afghan government was urged to take immediate steps to bring this unprovoked firing to an end.
SECESSION OF HOSTILITIES:
Earlier in the day, an Afghan official said that renewed clashes at Pakistan-Afghan border crossing have killed an Afghan border guard and wounded five others, with Pakistan saying it has dispatched more troops and weapons to the volatile border amid an escalation in tension between the two neighbors.
Afghan border police official Jamal Khan said the guard was killed late Tuesday. Another Afghan guard was killed the first night of the violence while a Pakistani officer wounded in the border clashes died on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s security officials confirmed the latest exchange of fire but say the ceasefire is now holding.
BORDER MANAGEMENT:
Pakistani officials maintained that the unprovoked firing from Afghan forces is disrupting border management efforts by Pakistan Army.
“Strengthening of management and facilitation of the movement of people and vehicles across the border is an important part of counter-terrorism effort and also for checking drug trafficking and other illegal activities,” Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said in an official statement on Wednesday.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said that the Pakistani side was undertaking construction works on its side to regulate the movements of people as well as vehicles with the prior agreement of the Afghan government. He expressed concern over the continued firing by the Afghan forces for the last few days with a view to disrupt the construction works aimed at strengthening effective border management.
The foreign secretary rejected allegations coming from Afghanistan that the construction works being undertaken by Pakistan were a violation of the agreements and understandings reached between the two countries. It was reiterated that these works are being undertaken on the Pakistani side and were started after the two sides had agreed on them during the meetings held last month.
AFGHAN PRESIDENT FOR DIPLOMATIC RESOLUTION:
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani chaired an emergency meeting of the Afghan Security Council on Torkham border issue in Kabul on Tuesday.
It was decided in the meeting that the issue could only be resolved by diplomacy and not through war. However, tensions remained high on the border as exchange of fire went on intermittently.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry has said that the continuation of clashes in Torkham is not in Pakistan’s interests and Islamabad should stop violating the existing agreement.
“The best way to address the issue is through diplomatic ways,” said MoFA spokesman Shekib Mustaghni.
One of the key agreements between Kabul and Islamabad is that no military activities will take place on the zero line (no man’s land) on the Durand Line. Kabul believes Islamabad violated this agreement.
Afghan officials said that the Pakistani military wanted to construct another gate on the zero line. Clashes between the two sides then broke out.
“We ask Pakistan to implement the agreement and not violate it,” Mustaghni added.
Afghan Upper House on Tuesday also discussed the Afghan-Pakistan border clash.
“People should stand beside their security forces. All our criticism against Pakistan has not resulted in anything,” said Upper House Speaker Fazl Hadi Muslimyar.
“This issue should be solved through diplomatic ways, war cannot solve the issue,” said Jumadin, a senator.
This comes after Pakistani border police recently closed the border gate to Afghans without visas.
Meanwhile, the US State Department on Wednesday urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to reduce tension at the Torkham border.
During a press briefing in Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said that they are watching the tensions at the Torkham border very closely and are in touch with officials on both sides. He said that the US continues to urge a calm resolution to the problem.
“We obviously don’t want to see clashes; we don’t want to see violence; we don’t want to see it get worse,” he said.
THE GATE:
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the gate at the Torkham border was being constructed at least 37 metres inside the country’s territory.
ISPR Director General Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa said that the gate was required to check documentation and interrogate the ones crossing the border, if necessary.
Pak justified the construction of the gate at Torkham, saying “terrorists” were using the busy crossing point.
In the recent past, terrorists have been found to have crossed the border through Torkham before carrying out terror acts inside Pakistan.
Torkham is one of the major crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where hundreds of trucks and thousands of people cross the border daily through the Khyber Pass.
The border was closed over similar clashes last month, but was reopened after an understanding was reached between the two countries.
REINFORCEMENTS ON THE BORDER:
Pakistan had earlier dispatched more troops and weapons to the volatile border amid an escalation in tension between the two neighbours. Curfew is still imposed in the area.
Two more personnel were also injured in the clash on Tuesday evening.
The fighting erupted along the Torkham border on Sunday night and continued erratically over the next two days, after Afghan forces objected to the construction of a gate on the Pakistani side.
The conflict has prompted bitter recriminations on both sides, with Islamabad and Kabul summoning each other’s diplomats to lodge strong formal complaints.