QUETTA, Dec 3: Pakistan on Saturday reopened its main border crossing with Afghanistan in Chaman more than 40 hours after it was shut down, officials said here.
The action was taken following successful negotiations between border officials of the two countries. A senior official of the Chaman administration said that the dispute over a Pakistani security official’s kidnapping had been resolved.
After the border was reopened Frontier Corps personnel caught 48 Afghans who had crossed into Pakistan without legal documents. “The Afghans arrested for illegally entering into Pakistan were handed over to FIA for further investigation,” FC sources told this correspondent by telephone.
Sources said that many rounds of talks were held between officials in the border towns of Chaman and Spin Boldak. A Pakistani delegation, headed by District Nazim Haji Adam Khan Achakzai, held negotiations with Spin Boldak’s commissioner Abdul Khaliq Khan and border commander Abdul Raziq Panjsheeri and informed them about Pakistan’s concern over the incident.
The Afghan officials expressed regret over the kidnapping and torture of a Pakistani border security official and assured that such incidents would not be repeated in future.
Sources said the commandant of Frontier Corps in Chaman, Col Nasarullah Niazi, also held talks with Afghan security officials on the issue and formally lodged a protest against the incident. The Pakistani officials clarified that no one would be allowed to cross the border without legal travel documents and permits.
Online adds: The situation grew tense on Saturday following an exchange of fire between the Afghan army and Frontier Corps at the Pak-Afghan border near Noshki.
The firing erupted when two Afghan army vehicles crossed the border and started looting local inhabitants.
