The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday reacted to reports that Pakistani military forces were conducting illegal fencing along the Durand Line – the de facto border between Afghanistan and Pakistan–saying Afghanistan has already shared its grievances and has protested the move through through diplomatic channels.
“In this regard, any action which has been taken by Pakistan, the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has recorded its protest regarding the issue through the Afghan embassy in Islamabad to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul,” said Geran Hewad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Local officials in Kunar have also confirmed the move by Pakistani military forces.
“They (Pakistan) started putting up fencing in a shifty way. They also want to take over some important areas, in response, we have also taken over some important areas, sometimes, tensions erupt, but sometimes, we both sit under the flags and move forward with harmony,” said Gul Mohammad Bedar, the deputy governor of Kunar.
Critics meanwhile have blasted the Afghan government’s inaction toward Pakistan, saying that the Afghan government has failed to protect the country’s territorial integrity.
“One, is the issue of the Durand Line…they (Pakistan) have moved forward from the zero point. Regarding this issue, the government has so far failed to prove that it has the ability to defend Afghanistan’s territorial integrity. It would have been better if these gentlemen had raised this issue in the recent Loya Jirga,” said Rahmatullah Nabil.
Over the past few days, residents in some remote regions of Kunar in phone calls to media have also complained against the hostile move by the Pakistani military forces in the province.
“They are putting up fences in the daylight, the people raised their voice, but the same local administration suffocated their voice,” said Tahzeebullah, a civil society activist in Kunar province.
“We call on the government to remain strong in its position and raise its voice regarding this issue through the international platform to help control the deaths and injury of the people and also prove our genuine rights on the ground,” said Qiam Khayam, a civil society activist in Kunar.
Last month, the Afghan border forces in Kunar said that they had tried to prevent such activities by the Pakistani military forces alongside the Durand Line, but later on they said that Pakistani military forces engaged in armed confrontation with the Afghan forces and started firing missiles on Kunar province.
On July 21, the Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, during a visit to the eastern provinces on Tuesday said that the recent artillery attacks by the Pakistani’ military forces on Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province will not go without a response.
Mohib at the time said that over the past eighteen years attacks were launched on some regions of Kunar province without any legal justification which are aimed to expand the influence of the insurgents.
Reports show that several civilians have lost their lives as a result of mortar attacks by the Pakistani armed forces.
At least eight civilians were killed and eleven others were wounded following the artillery attacks by Pakistani forces on the Sarkano district in Kunar, as well as Asadabad, the provincial capital, according to the local officials in the area
