Javed Iqbal
On 13 June, Afghan forces continued unrestrained firing near the Torkham border for a second consecutive day that resulted in the injury of 13 people, including 5 security personnel. The Afghan forces were given a befitting reply from the Pakistani security forces which silenced the Afghan guns. The reaction from the Afghan forces came at a time when a gate was being constructed at the Torkham border in order to prevent the infiltration of terrorists from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Security officials state that firing was done by the Afghan forces after regular intervals.
Earlier, on 12 June, 2016, during night Afghan Security forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani side at Torkham Gate. A Pakistani soldier was injured due to Afghan firing. Pakistani security forces responded to Afghan firing effectively. Earlier in the day, the Afghan Charge d’Affaires was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be conveyed Pakistan’s protest over the matter. Meanwhile, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, Attaullah Khogyani, also confirmed the exchange of fire but did not provide further details. The incident came days after Pakistan introduced a new mechanism along the border, which requires every Afghan to carry travel documents to enter Pakistan. Earlier, thousands of Afghans living near the border would cross into Pakistan without passports and visas. Pakistan maintains that the new system was put in place to curb cross-border movement of militants who would take advantage of the loose border monitoring system.
Torkham has remained the most frequented crossing point at Pak-Afghan Border. Most of the terrorists have been found using this gate for entry. As a result of increase in tensions near the border area, curfew has been imposed in Torkham and Landi Kotal whereas a number of villages have been evacuated and emergency has been declared in hospitals.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department on Twitter, the gate at the Torkham border was being constructed in the Pakistani region as it is 37 meters within the country’s territory, in order to check movement of terrorists through Torkham. ISPR Director General stated that Afghan security forces were firing at the gate. He further stated that the gate was necessary to conduct interrogation from the ones crossing the border. Another purpose of the construction of the gate was to maintain check over the movement of the terrorists.
Pakistan is constructing a gate on own side of the border as a necessity to check unwanted and illegal movement, it seems that there are some resentments on the project, which has irked some of the Afghan authorities. It is quite astonishing that at one hand Afghan government blames Pakistan on almost every security failure related incident taking place in Afghanistan and on the other hand criticize and sabotage every effort leading to proper border management at the Pak- Afghan border. Effective border management is a basic requirement and check to monitor and stop the movements of terrorists, besides, it would also be beneficial for stopping the smuggling of drugs, Weapons , Humans and other illegal and contra band items.
It is pertinent to mention here that there are more than 40 points on the Pak-Afghan border that have been exceeded by Pakistan or Afghanistan. However, security issues remain a determinant factor in resolving the problem. Pakistan has 535 border posts against just 145 of Afghanistan. By this ratio there is one Pakistani border post at every two kilometers and an Afghan post at every 7.8 kilometers. Such incidents of unprovoked firings amount to confirmed involvement and support to the elements involved in undesired activities against both the countries, Afghanistan must secure the border while appreciating the efforts being done by Pakistan for achieving the mutual goal of maintaining peace at the border. So far Afghanistan has failed to implement strict checking its side of the border management. It is pertinent to mentioned that India is maintaining 17 consulates in Afghanistan, Indian intelligence agency RAW is operating through these consulates in Qandahar, Mazar Sharif and Jalalabad. The capture of Indian and Afghan agents in Pakistan, confirms the notorious activities of these Indian consulates. The resultant deterioration of peace and security is the outcome of these consulates, which are utilized as source of fuelling and aiding miscreants and terrorists to sabotage the bilateral relations of both the countries. Afghanistan has even failed to take any action against the TTP’s leader, Mullah Fazlullah and other terrorists hiding in Afghanistan. To foster brotherly relations ,Afghanistan must abide by her commitments of not letting her soil against any country, besides such firing incidents needs to be thoroughly investigated for avoiding its future reoccurrences, which could lead to irreparable deterioration of mutual relations between the two brotherly countries. Any deteriorated situation would definitely be exploited by the adversaries of both the countries having hidden agenda in the region.
