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QUETTA: Pakistan has dug a 235 km lengthy trench at the porous Afghan border to counter flow of narcotics and smugglers into Balochistan province.
Frontier Corps was entrusted the task to excavate the trench in order to stop illegal movement at the border that separates Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.
“Work is going in full-swing on digging the trench,” Colonel Faheem of the FC told the reporters visiting the border. The two neighbors share a 2,200 km porous border.
Colonel Faheem said excavation of the trench was part of the government’s efforts to tighten security around the border and ensure legal movement. Hundreds of labourers and vehicles are also involved in this process.
“We want to stop the infiltration of terrorists,” he added.
The trench was dug in the Loai Band area of Killa Saifullah district and was being excavated by paramilitary troops in districts located in northern Balochistan.
“Our aim is to strictly man the border and stop the flow of narcotics and drugs,” the military officer stated. The Trench would be dug out by Pakistan 480 kms along the border with Afghanistan, he added.
Balochistan Frontier Corps Chief, Major General Ejaz Shahid was personally supervising the excavation of trench and ordered the troops to stop the infiltration of terrorists.
During Pervez Musharraf's regime, Pakistan had installed a bio-metric system at the Pak-Afghan border which the Afghan side had objected to.
The system has been intact at the border for almost eight years, but it is yet to be made functional.
A blame game between Afghanistan and Pakistan with regard to infiltration of terrorists has continued for several years now, often straining relations between the two countries.
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Sep 12, 2014 09:48pm
From one of the pictures it seems that the trench is barely 10 feet deep. The smugglers need wooden planks to cross or a ladder to climb down and back up. One could also easily stand on one's shoulder to get out and then pull the last person out. At best it's a delay tactic and not a deterrent. Either fence it or fill it with water and throw some crocodiles in it.
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Sep 12, 2014 09:56pm
Good.
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Sep 12, 2014 10:03pm
Why stop at a trench! Build a wall. The Afghanis aren't like us Pashtuns! Send the Afghans back to Afghanistan!
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Sep 12, 2014 10:10pm
Good...keep them out.
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Sep 12, 2014 10:11pm
Thats a great start, now a thick wall should be built. Then all refugees should be sent back and dont let any Afgan in without proper visa.
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Sep 12, 2014 10:21pm
Good Job, We need to tighten our borders
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Sep 12, 2014 10:35pm
I don't see who this trench would stop the terrorists from infiltrating Pakistan. We need some live alligators down there.
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Sep 12, 2014 10:52pm
Great job
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Sep 12, 2014 10:54pm
Give any name to this trench but it is somebody's else desire being fulfilled,serious terrorism was emerging in area where operation going these days. we need no mans land and trench along Pakistan-Afghanistan boarder more seriously to save/safe Pakistan then any where else.
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Sep 12, 2014 10:54pm
Good job. This should have been done a long time ago and this should be fenced as well.
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Sep 12, 2014 11:00pm
It doesnt look hard to breach. Good start but not good enough
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Sep 12, 2014 11:08pm
just make sure they dont cross this trench... I think it will help us to retaliate "foreign intervention" in Baluchistan... well more importantly we need to start development projects in Baluchistan and education should be our priority
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Sep 12, 2014 11:14pm
Well done Pak Army and FC. Keep fighting hard and eliminate these terrorists and extremists. This plan is not only effective for short term but also long term strategy.
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Sep 12, 2014 11:54pm
The border should be fenced with electric wires and I can guarantee a big decrease in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
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Sep 13, 2014 12:21am
@Israr Khan Ismailzai Free electricity for 'kundaa' gangs?
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Sep 13, 2014 12:23am
can you please build one on the Kashmir border?
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Sep 13, 2014 12:30am
Who the heck are Afghan government to object a biometric system at entries? Aren't we a soveriegn country who can impose what ever rules?
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Sep 13, 2014 12:38am
@Israr Khan Ismailzai Wow ! I did not know you had written this as I was about to write exactly the same in mine but had a second thought. But I agree 100%. Just a trench will not help. I could export some Alligators from Florida. Fill the trench up with water and put all the gators.
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Sep 13, 2014 12:57am
If UN can facilitate India in fencing 2,900 Km long border with Pakistan, why America and its ally couldn't finance to secure PAK-AFGHAN border despite of millions of dollars expensed out in the head of war!
Definitely restricting the movement across border would reduce terrorism to substantial extent in both countries that is not in the plan of american policy makers circumstantially!
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Sep 13, 2014 01:08am
The Chinese built the Great Wall to keep the Mongols away but the Mongols found innovative ways to breach the wall and Chinese defenses.
Trenches and walls are short term fixes. The need of the hour is changes in foreign policy and mutual cooperation on a wide range of issues like development, education, de-radicalization and the elimination of non state actors as foreign policy tools. Cosmetic solutions are exercises in futility.
Good luck with the trenches, baby steps are a good start.
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Sep 13, 2014 01:09am
@Shehz most people don't cross borders on foot. This would deter people and smugglers driving in cars and trucks. Most smugglers use trucks, not backpacks.
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Sep 13, 2014 01:09am
@Sun Tsu Why just Kashmir border - why not across all the Eastern border of Pakistan. India will also put its own so that its even harder for infiltrators to cross.
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Sep 13, 2014 01:10am
@Sun Tsu That's India's job :)
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Sep 13, 2014 01:12am
Mine the trench
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Sep 13, 2014 01:22am
I'm sure the Taliban are capable of building a makeshift bridge.
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Sep 13, 2014 01:24am
Nice but why you built tunnel across Indian border?
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Sep 13, 2014 01:24am
Just activate the biometric system that the best president Pakistan ever had installed.
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Sep 13, 2014 01:27am
millions will be spent on trench. and some more millions on fence as trench was a bad idea. i' m a pesssimist
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Sep 13, 2014 01:31am
Great idea, how about putting some land mines in these trenches? That will seal the border.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:08am
Balochistan is different to the Tribal Areas. This piece of land needed an obstacle. Same feature can be improved with time. There can always be crossing points with legal controlled passage, facilitating the local community. Balochistan is not only being used by drug, human traffickers but by militants supported by our enemies.
Destruction of Orion surveillance planes at Mehran airbase by terrorist was carried out due to the reason that the planes could pick foreign intervention into Balochistan.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:09am
Is this trench to keep Haqqani people in or is it for keeping pastuns out.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:09am
@Sun Tsu india has already built any years ago to keep Palistanis out
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Sep 13, 2014 02:13am
Yup. That's definitely going to stop them. They come racing to the border and screech to a halt at the sight of the trench that no mortal human can throw a plank of timber over.
Should sell this idea to Iraq and Syria to stop the IS in its track.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:45am
May be ask the Shareef brothers to create a Jungla bus along the border and power the electricity fences with 40
billion dollar Chinese powered coal and make the whole thing look like Pak-Afghan Aman Ki Asha with the help of Turkish companies. That should be 2025 vision for Noon league. While at it, have Abid Sher Ali collect electricity bills from all of us. Win-win.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:52am
Pashtuns will not allow Du-rand Line to divide people of same language culture & religion. It is time these lines drawn by infidels British occupiers shall go. It is time for trade & people to people contacts.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:55am
@Adnan splendid comment,this is what all the commentators were unable to perceive alongwith me.
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Sep 13, 2014 02:59am
@asif No,our paramilitary forces are not sleeping that they will construct a bridge and our fc remains ignorant of it.
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Sep 13, 2014 03:01am
Love this idea. President Musharraf proposed a tall wall, which was opposed by many. Fill this with some kind of material which traps illegal immigrants.
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Sep 13, 2014 04:13am
well fill it with mines,
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Sep 13, 2014 04:23am
@Pashtun
I guess you are not well versed with Khushal Khan Khattak's poems. Afghan is synonymous with Pashtun. The people that live in the border regions are all Pashtun, at least they are on the Afghan side.
Da Afghan pa nang may watarala tura
Nangyalai da zamane Khushal Khattak yam.
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Sep 13, 2014 05:41am
@Sun Tsu there is no border in Kashmir.
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Sep 13, 2014 05:41am
May be a better idea to dig trenches between provinces as well so that any state-border crossing is done only at the check-posts?
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Sep 13, 2014 06:36am
Seal entire 2200km
Also make sure to have drainage for water incase of heavy rains the trench may fill with water and cause the side walls to collapse, filling & making it crossable
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Sep 13, 2014 12:45pm
I believe along with trench dug army should also install fence all along pak-afghan border to stop terrorists infiltration army should also consider .The blimp-like aerostats, which fly about 3,500 feet above the ground and are tethered to the ground, have 360-degree, infrared surveillance capability that can read a license plate from miles away.....use it for arrial view of border surveillance see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerostat
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Sep 13, 2014 02:37pm
It looks there is no engimeering and human phycology behind this. It can be breach easily, they are afghan people and not eurpeion women. Please eract 30 feet high, 10 feet wide and 2 feet thick pre cast concrete wall pieces at a distance of 10 to 30 feet apart and attach them with heavy barred wire according to local area condition. These trenches have short life and not feasible.
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Sep 13, 2014 06:08pm
brilliant idea.... treacherous mountains could not stop them but a trench will. what a strategy...
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Sep 13, 2014 08:48pm
pakistan is now getting the taste of terrorism .ha ha good for you .indian should add some good rajasthani spice to it
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Sep 13, 2014 09:03pm
@Adnan
Exactly, and all they need are wooden planks for pickup trucks to cross.
However, most people do cross on foot, you are either misinformed or attempting to misinform others. They get dropped off near the border, they cross on foot, and then get picked up from across the border. That is how it's done at the US/Mexico border, Thai/Cambodia borders, and here at Afghan/Pakistan borders.
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Sep 13, 2014 09:09pm
@naeem sajjad
Vehicles generate heat signature and are detected by the forces. They don't come anywhere near the border on vehicles.
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Sep 13, 2014 11:37pm
@Shehz vehicles can't cross it with mucj ease. Pedestrians can't smuggle
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Sep 15, 2014 01:06am
@Pashtun Very costly unless China , usa, world bank puts money. It will be better to put money to make electricity so export will increase and dollars can be earned
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Sep 18, 2014 04:56am
We need secure borders.
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