1,100km long trench completed at Torkham border in three years
Frontier Corps are continuing with digging the trench further
TORKHAM (Dunya News) – At least 1,100 kilometre long trench has been dug at Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham which is around 11 feet deep and 14 feet wide, reported Thursday.
Pakistan Army has the blocked all illegal pathways at the border that used to aid terrorists’ movement.
Frontier Corps led the successful mission that was initiated three years ago and cost around Rs 14 billion. Security authorities stated that the two countries have a 25 kilometre long border at Torkham and the boundaries have been further cleared by the trench.
However, Frontier Corps are continuing with digging the trench further.
On the other hand, possession of identity cards has been declared mandatory for pedestrians while time for the cross-border movement has been reduced by 2 hours.
With the revised timings, the travelers could cross between Afghanistan and Pakistan from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
It should be mentioned here that Pakistan military is constructing a gate at Torkham to keep a check on the people who enter the country from Afghanistan as several terror attacks in the past trace back to handlers in Afghanistan who had their operatives enter Pakistan through Torkham due to no regulation to examine documents and necessary identification.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz recently said that refugee camps set up by the government are safe havens of militants.
According to the latest statistics, over 15 lac Afghan refugees reside in Pakistan. They are the successors of the Afghan people who took refuge in Pakistan during Soviet-Afghanistan war in 1980.
The government has termed them burden on Pakistan’s economy and a factor to be eliminated in war on terror. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said time and again that Afghan refugees would have to return.
Sartaj Aziz and other members of the government have talked about the border issue at length recently after situation between the two neighbours got tense at Torkham following opposition from Afghan side over construction of gate citing violation of some understandings.
After roughly a week of tensions, the government reached a consensus and construction of gate was resumed.
Thousands of traders among other people used to travel between Afghanistan and Pakistan daily without proper documentation however, the cross-border movement will be kept a check on following the new regulations and strict vigilance to restrict Afghan terrorists from entering Pakistan.
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