Spin Boldak border to stay shut until tiff resolved

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Kandahar police chief Gen. Abdul Raziq on Friday said the Spin Boldak-Chaman border crossing would remain closed until a dispute over the status of a village on the Durand Line was resolved.

Raziq said this while addressing a gathering at the Governor’s House in Kandahar City, the provincial capital. Members of both houses of the parliament were present at the gathering that praised the Afghan security forces for their response to what they called an unproved attack’.

Besides military and civil officials, advisors to President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, provincial council members and tribal elders were also in attendance. The police chief said the Pakistani side wanted to reopen the border gate on Friday, but they opposed the move.

The border crossing has been closed since last Friday when border guards of the two countries clashed over a census exercise in Luqman village as both the sides claimed the village was on their side of the border.

The clash left at least nine civilians dead on both sides and several others wounded besides forcing hundreds of families to flee for safety.

Gen. Raziq said the border crossing would not be reopened until the dispute over the Luqman village was not resolved. He urged the Afghans to standby their security forces and religious scholars and tribal elders to work for peace and stability in the country.

Mohammad Hashim Alokozai, who heads the Senate committee on interior security, said the upper house delegation a day earlier visited Luqman and Jehangir villages --- the scene of the border skirmish.

He said their investigation revealed Pakistan had violated all international norms and the Afghan soil. After the border clash, the two sides had agreed to conducting a geological survey of the two disputed villages.

A day earlier, local officials in Kandahar said the technical teams had completed their survey but had not announced the result. More than 25,000 people daily cross the border between the two countries.

ma/mud