Pakistan to dig trench for securing Afghan border

[Contrarian]

Afghanistan needs to understand that however close it can get to India in bed, it's Pakistan that holds its balls. Sirf atta (flour) band kar dain tu ankhain bahir ajaingi inki!

And can Pakistan stop supply of goods to Afghanistan?
Make threats when you can carry them out. Are you aware of the kind of smuggling that goes on from Pakistan to Afghanistan? Are you aware that most of your tribesmen have relatives in Afghanistan. Do you think you will ever be able to shut it down.

 

[Xeric]

And can Pakistan stop supply of goods to Afghanistan?
Make threats when you can carry them out. Are you aware of the kind of smuggling that goes on from Pakistan to Afghanistan? Are you aware that most of your tribesmen have relatives in Afghanistan. Do you think you will ever be able to shut it down.

Aaa.....wrong.

Just interchange Pakistan and Afghanistan in your post, and you'll understand the issue better

 

[Contrarian]

Aaa.....wrong.

Just interchange Pakistan and Afghanistan in your post, and you'll understand the issue better

Doesnt change the fact that your tribesmen in FATA/KPK will not let you shut down the border if their relatives suffer on the other side.

 

[Xeric]

Doesnt change the fact that your tribesmen in FATA/KPK will not let you shut down the border if their relatives suffer on the other side.

You are trying to imply that we are dependent on Afghanistan and not otherwise. You are wrong, very wrong.

 

[Leader]

I still support mining.. and before that send back all these Afghanis back to their country.

 

[Zarrar Alvi]

Doesnt change the fact that your tribesmen in FATA/KPK will not let you shut down the border if their relatives suffer on the other side.

no they will use the proper route from khyber pass and chaman and near kurram agency road link not some mountainous terrain like they do now

 

[Contrarian]

You are trying to imply that we are dependent on Afghanistan and not otherwise. You are wrong, very wrong.

Ofcourse you are not dependent on Afghanistan.
Its Afghanistan that is dependent on you.

I am however saying that your tribesmen will not let you take a step like shutting down the border because
1. They and their relatives(in Afg) cross over the border daily.
2. They would not want their relatives (in Afg) to suffer.

 

[Xeric]

Ofcourse you are not dependent on Afghanistan.
Its Afghanistan that is dependent on you.

I am however saying that your tribesmen will not let you take a step like shutting down the border because
1. They and their relatives(in Afg) cross over the border daily.
2. They would not want their relatives (in Afg) to suffer.

Not exactly. Our tribesmen now know what a porous border can do to the country, especially when the other country is under the influence of your country. So, they wont mind shutting down the border. i agree, that even at places we have the border dividing villages, but then they are ready to sacrifice. They'll be using the proper xings from now on - we have learnt.

 

[OrionHunter]

QUETTA: Commander Southern Command Lieutenant General Nasser Khan Janjua said on Wednesday that efforts were afoot to dig a deep trench to secure the long and porous border with Afghanistan.
“The Afghan intelligence agency is involved in target killings, bomb blasts and insurgency in Balochistan and a deep trench along the border will help make the area safe,” he said addressing a tribal Jirga in the border town of Chaman. Inspector General Frontier Corps Major General Ejaz Shahid was also present.
Janjua said a handful of disgruntled people were creating disturbance in the province at the behest of foreign elements. Majority of the people in Balochistan were patriots, who had always proved their patriotism and affection for the country, he added.
He said it was Pakistan, which had made great sacrifices for the restoration of peace in the region. “The Afghan tribesmen entering Pakistan must know that they are our brothers as we have given them shelter and taken care of them for last 30 years.
“We have blood relations with our Afghan brothers and nobody can isolate us from them,” Lieutenant General Janjua added. He, however, said smuggling of flour to Afghanistan at the cost of its shortage in Pakistan would not be allowed.
The tribesmen assured the military leadership of their support and pledged to cooperate with the government and security forces in their efforts to maintain peace. The Commander Southern Command and IGFC visited the border areas where Commandant Chaman Colonel Haider Ali gave them a detailed briefing about the security measures taken along the border.

Pakistan to dig trench for securing Afghan border - thenews.com.pk
Security issues: Pakistan to dig trench on Afghan border – The Express Tribune

Members, lets discuss would it be a good way of securing border? what would be its effectiveness and cost

What a hare brained idea and that too from a General!!

So he wants to dig a 'deep' trench right along the 2300km border with Afghanistan? Even if the trench is 30 ft deep and 30 ft across, does he for a moment think that this would stop militants from coming and going across? All they need to do is to span it with improvised means.

How does he intend digging this trench over mountainous terrain? And the volume of earth dug up will be a mind boggling 250 million cubic meters or a little less than 10 billion cubic feet!! That's a whole new mountain range of mud!!

Then he'll need troops to cover the trench by fire and observation or it would be useless. Where is he going to get so many troops from? Where is he going to get the megawatts of electricity required for lighting up the hundreds of miles of trench during the night?

As I said earlier, this idea is as corny as it comes!! I think Generals need to get out of their 'trench' mindset!

 

[Contrarian]

Not exactly. Our tribesmen now know what a porous border can do to the country, especially when the other country is under the influence of your country. So, they wont mind shutting down the border. i agree, that even at places we have the border dividing villages, but then they are ready to sacrifice. They'll be using the proper xings from now on - we have learnt.

I hope for your sake what you write is true. I however doubt that suddenly the tribals have become so conscious of their Pakistani identity and let go of their ethnic affiliations.

It will be proven and tested in due time in any case.

 

[Xeric]

I hope for your sake what you write is true. I however doubt that suddenly the tribals have become so conscious of their Pakistani identity and let go of their ethnic affiliations.

It will be proven and tested in due time in any case.

The actual tribesmen are as worried and agitated because of terrorism as are Pakistanis from the mainland. So, this change has not happened 'suddenly' as you say. It took 10 long years and over 50k dead.

You should have been more worried about the Afghans raising the dead issue of Durand Line and Pukhtonistan, but then your sole focus and worry remains Pakistan, i get it.

 

[zip]

You dig it
They will jump
You dig little much
They will bring ladder
If u dig a bigg hole
They will come with mountaineering course

 

[Xeric]

What a hare brained idea and that too from a General!!

So he wants to dig a 'deep' trench right along the 2300km border with Afghanistan? Even if the trench is 30 ft deep and 30 ft across, does he for a moment think that this would stop militants from coming and going across? All they need to do is to span it with improvised means.

How does he intend digging this trench over mountainous terrain? And the volume of earth dug up will be a mind boggling 250 million cubic meters or a little less than 10 billion cubic feet!! That's a whole new mountain range of mud!!

Then he'll need troops to cover the trench by fire and observation or it would be useless. Where is he going to get so many troops from? Where is he going to get the megawatts of electricity required for lighting up the hundreds of miles of trench during the night?

As I said earlier, this idea is as corny as it comes!! I think Generals need to get out of their 'trench' mindset!

That's the perils of incomplete knowledge. What you probably dont know is that the border is manned from both the sides, but the posts are quite wide apart and hence the area cannot be surveilled effectively. Mining is not cost effective not a permanent solution as they can drift and then mining a mountainous area is not very effective. Ask this from you soldiers in Kashmir.

If you guys still claim that ghuspatias are able to breach your electrified fence, we too dont think that nay measure would be able to stop the xings altogether. But what a trench can do is that it can give us time to react from the posts on the either side of the place where an xing is taking place. Above all, it will be cost effective, low maintenance and "permanent" above all.

 

[OrionHunter]

That's the perils of incomplete knowledge. What you probably dont know is that the border is manned from both the sides, but the posts are quite wide apart and hence the area cannot be surveilled effectively. Mining is not cost effective not a permanent solution as they can drift and then mining a mountainous area is not very effective. Ask this from you soldiers in Kashmir.

If you guys still claim that ghuspatias are able to breach your electrified fence, we too dont think that nay measure would be able to stop the xings altogether. But what a trench can do is that it can give us time to react from the posts on the either side of the place where an xing is taking place. Above all, it will be cost effective, low maintenance and "permanent" above all.

You mean your troops are manning all 2500 km of the AfPak border? Nope! You don't have the troops and the logistics back-up for that kind of deployment.

You just mentioned that the entire border is manned from both the sides. Wrong! Do you realise how far you are from facts? 90% of the area does not have a road network due to the mountainous terrain. If so, how are your troops being supplied? By air?

And remember, whether you mine the area or fence it, the basic principle is that an obstacle system has to be covered by fire and observation, otherwise it is useless. So, do you have the resources in terms of manpower to do that - to cover 2500 km of border? Simple answer - No!

 

[Xeric]

You mean your troops are manning all 2500 km of the AfPak border? Nope! You don't have the troops and the logistics back-up for that kind of deployment.

You just mentioned that the entire border is manned from both the sides. Wrong! Do you realise how far you are from facts? 90% of the area does not have a road network due to the mountainous terrain. If so, how are your troops being supplied? By air?

And remember, whether you mine the area or fence it, the basic principle is that an obstacle system has to be covered by fire and observation, otherwise it is useless. So, do you have the resources in terms of manpower to do that - to cover 2500 km of border? Simple answer - No!

Please dont tell me what my troops do. Without going into details i must enlighten you that the border towards FATA is almost manned to the entire length. As for Balochistan's portion, 70% of FC is deployed along the border. Just because you dont have the knowldge about anything doesnt necessarily mean that one should start asking stupid questions like as there are no roads how they are being sustained. FYKI, the terrain is similar to Kashmir, only less cultivated, if troops can be supplied there, they can be here too. And also, how do you think the posts in FATA which are just short of border being supplied since the last 10 years if there are no roads? Do you really think that we are fighting in FATA just along the cities and towns and dont have presence ahead of them towards the border? Funny.

And when you dont believe that the border is being manned from both side, well why do you think we and Afghanistan complain and for what purpose when either side suffers an attack from the other side if the border is just laying bare open? Dont tell me that you have been thinking that the protests were just for governments' consumption. The protests are conveyed down to the post level from/near where the xing has taken place.

And please dont argue for the sake of it, i have served in the area for quite some time, and have been sending eggs to our Afghan counterparts just as i have been exchanging Noor Jehan's cassettes with your soldiers in Kashmir.