Border along Afghanistan to be fenced

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ISLAMABAD, March 9: Pakistan will fence its border with Afghanistan and plant landmines to stop infiltration of foreigners. “There is no writ of the government in some provinces in Afghanistan bordering Pakistan and instead of tackling the situation in its own country, the Afghan government is accusing Pakistan of cross-border infiltration,” Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said here on Thursday while speaking to a large delegation of elected councillors of Fata.

The minister said the government had taken the decision as a last resort to stop cross-border movement of terrorists from the neighbouring country.

“We are suffering from large-scale poppy cultivation and gunrunning in Afghanistan and the Afghan government had no writ in some of its provinces to overcome the situation,” he said.

The Afghan president recently alleged that Pakistan had failed to control infiltration of terrorists into Afghanistan from its border areas.

He said Pakistan had been playing a key role in the war on terror and the US had acknowledged it. “But despite this, the neighbouring country is blaming that Pakistan is doing nothing against terrorists,” he said.

The interior minister said permanent peace and stability in Afghanistan would indirectly benefit Pakistan.

He asked councillors of tribal areas to help the government and not to provide shelter to any foreign national in their areas.

The government, he said, was unhappy on the current law and order situation in tribal areas, especially North and South Waziristan.

“We know that the people of tribal areas are very much hospitable and they always welcome their foreign guests, but these guests should not involve in any anti-state and anti-social activity,” he said.

The government, he said, had been bearing expenses of deploying 80,000 troops in Waziristan and other troubled areas.

The interior minister assured the councillors of tribal areas that the government would consult them before taking any decision on the issues of their areas and fulfil their demands.

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