Featured FO rejects allegations of 'illegal fencing' along Pak-Afghan border

[ghazi52]

FO rejects allegations of 'illegal fencing' along Pak-Afghan border


Naveed Siddiqui
13 Aug 2020

In this file photo from January 2019, PakistanI soldiers stand guard near the Afghan border in Ghulam Khan, a village in North Waziristan. — AFP/File


The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday rejected Afghanistan's insinuation that the military was conducting "illegal fencing" along the Pakistan-Afghan border, adding that it was being done to address "serious security concerns".

In a statement. FO spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the fencing was "fully in accordance with the established norms of international law without encroaching into Afghan territory".

On Tuesday, the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they had protested the move through diplomatic channels.

In a statement carried by Tolo News, the Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson said: "Any action which has been taken by Pakistan, the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has recorded its protest through the Afghan embassy in Islamabad to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul."

The report also quoted the deputy governor of Kunar as saying Pakistan was putting up fencing in a "shifty way" and claimed that residents living in remote areas of Kunar had also complained in phone calls to the media.

Reacting to the report, the FO spokesperson said that the Afghan side would be well-advised to engage on border matters through the relevant institutional mechanisms to "address any misconceptions".

"Regrettably, Pakistan’s suggestion for conducting joint topographic surveys had not been positively responded to by the Afghan side," he said.

The spokesperson also reaffirmed that Pakistan respected the territorial integrity of Afghanistan and conducted its relations with the brotherly country in accordance with the principles of the United Nations charter and expected "reciprocity from the Afghan side".

On July 30, at least three people, including a woman, were killed and over 20 injured on the Pakistan side in a clash between an unruly mob and security forces at the Friendship Gate border crossing in Chaman, while a heavy exchange of fire also took place between Pakistani and Afghan security forces.

The FO had later said that Afghan forces had opened "unprovoked" fire on civilians gathered on Pakistan's side of the Friendship Gate and the incident resulted in casualties after Pakistani troops responded to the fire "only in self-defence".


https://www.dawn.com/news/1574189/fo-rejects-allegations-of-illegal-fencing-along-pak-afghan-border

 

[HttpError]

If possible kindly also mine the area.

 

[TNT]

Since Afghanistan have rejected all requests of topographic surveys jointly and have also rejected any talks on border, Pakistan should take the high grounds and strategic locations. Encroach a few miles if they have to, in order to have a more secure border.

 

[Lincoln]

"shifty fences" and rejecting joint topographic surveys... what excuse do they have?

 

[ghazi52]

Fencing

In September 2005, Pakistan stated it had plans to build a 2,400-kilometre (1,500 mi) fence along its border with Afghanistan to prevent insurgents and drug smugglers slipping between the two countries. Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had subsequently offered to mine the border as well.

The plans to fence and mine the border were again considered in 2007 and then in 2009, but they were not fully implemented. However, a 35-kilometre-long (22 mi) portion along selected border areas was fenced and the work was discontinued for lack of funds. In June 2011, Major General Athar Abbas, the then spokesman for the army, said: "We did fence around 35km of the border area as it faced continuous militant incursions. It was a joint project of ISAF and Afghanistan. But then they backed out.

It was a very costly project." During the Musharraf period, a biometric system was installed by Pakistan on border crossings. Afghanistan had objected to the system. The bio-metric system remains intact at the border, although it is yet to be made fully functional.

 

[ghazi52]

The Pakistani plans for mining and fencing the border were renewed on 26 December 2006, but these plans were opposed by the Afghan government, citing that the fencing would result in "the limitation of the freedom of movement of Pashtun tribes people".

Due to the Afghan opposition to the border fencing, the Angor Adda and Sheken areas saw a border skirmish in April 2007. On 1 April 2013, the Afghan Foreign Ministry formally protested and raised 'grave concerns' over what it called "the Pakistani military's unilateral construction and physical reinforcement activities along the border in the eastern Ningarhar province".

Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line itself as a legitimate border between it and Pakistan, as it divides the Pashtun ethnic homeland in two. Afghanistan contends that the installation of a physical barrier would make this border permanent.

Construction progress

In June 2016, after three years of construction, Pakistan completed a 1,100 km (680 mi) trench along the Afghan border in Balochistan province to ensure proper border-management.

The excavation was carried out by the Pakistani Frontier Corps. The purpose of the trench is to tighten border security by countering the flow of militants, smugglers, illegal movement and narcotics. Three Balochistan construction companies were contracted to supply manpower and arrangements. The 3.4-metre-deep (11 ft) and 4.3-metre-wide (14 ft) ditch will be extended along the whole border.