QUETTA: As Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan at Chaman remains closed on the second consecutive day on Saturday, authorities issued shoot-at-sight orders for those found trying to cross over.

The Friendship Gate was closed on Friday as part of tightening security in the wake of the suicide attack on the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan town of Sindh in which nearly 90 people lost their lives and over 340 others suffered injuries.

As a result, traffic and transit trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan also remained suspended.

“Shooting order has been issued to the security forces for those...found trying to enter...Pakistan illegally from any area of the border,” security officials said. “The Friendship Gate at Pak-Afghan border [has been] sealed for [an] indefinite period,” a Frontier Corps spokesman said.

“There will be no traffic between Pakistan and Afghanistan for an indefinite period,” border officials said.

Shops in the Vash Mandi area across the border in Afghanistan were closed and traders in Chaman also did not open their businesses in protest against the terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Hundreds of trucks and long vehicles carrying transit trade goods and Nato supplies have been stranded on both sides of the border.

Official sources said that after the recent bomb blasts in Quetta, Lahore, Peshawar and Sehwan more FC troops have been deployed along the border with Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

Regional engagement
Updated 13 May, 2025

Regional engagement

If terrorist groups continue to find sanctuary in Afghanistan, regional integration and increased trade will be difficult to achieve.
Hostages to hostility
13 May, 2025

Hostages to hostility

AS people breathe a sigh of relief after being locked with India in a hair-trigger stand-off, there are those for...
Water crisis
13 May, 2025

Water crisis

IN large parts of Karachi, there is no water to be had. The taps have run dry for the past 12 days, bowsers have ...
The way forward
Updated 12 May, 2025

The way forward

An out-of-the-box solution acceptable to Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris is the only hope for long-term peace in South Asia.
AI opportunity
12 May, 2025

AI opportunity

TIME is running out. According to the latest Human Development Report, published by the UNDP this past Tuesday,...
Ace mountaineer
12 May, 2025

Ace mountaineer

NINE summits, five to go. Sajid Ali Sadpara’s quest to fulfil his late father’s dream and elevate Pakistan’s...