Pak-Afghan border at Chaman remains shut, deadlock persists in talks

Islamabad [Pakistan], November 20 (ANI): The Pakistan-Afghan border in Balochistan, remained closed for yet another day as both sides failed to arrive at a consensus on reopening the crossing, Pakistan media reported.
The Pak-Afghan border at Chaman was closed for an indefinite period after an armed man opened fire from the Afghan side, killing a Pakistani soldier, last week. The incident left two security personnel injured and prompted the closure of the border between the two countries at Chaman, Balochistan, Dawn reported quoting official sources.
During a flag meeting at Friendship Gate, the two sides discussed the need for a “joint mechanism” to put an end to incidents of violence at the border. The idea of joint interrogations has also been proposed to probe Sunday’s incident, the report said.
“A joint mechanism would be evolved to stop such incidents in the future and both countries would cooperate in a probe in case of any future incident at the border,” a senior border security official told Dawn.
Citing sources, the Pakistani daily reported that the Afghan Taliban officials also exchanged suggestions with Pakistani authorities for running the border affairs in a smooth way.
Following the incident last week, the trade between the two countries, including the Afghan transit trade, was suspended.
“A man crossed into the Pakistani side at Friendship Gate from the Afghan border and opened fire at the security personnel posted at the gate, resulting in the martyrdom of one soldier and injuring two others,” Chaman Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hameed Zehri said, confirming the border closure for an indefinite period of time, according to Dawn.
“The Afghan personnel opened fire on Pakistani forces which retaliated and the firing continued for some time,” he added further.
Pakistani authorities had enhanced security arrangements at the border, as nobody was allowed to cross the border after the shooting, the Dawn reported.
As a direct fallout of the closure of the Afghan-Pak border at Chaman, a large number of trucks carrying Afghan transit trade goods and containers carrying import and export goods were stranded on both sides of the border.
Border clashes between the two sides have been on the rise in the recent past, with Kabul accusing Islamabad of providing a safe haven to ‘anti-social elements’.
The border spat between the two countries has only added to the rise in gun attacks and explosions in the region, media reports said. (ANI)