ISLAMABAD – Pakistani officials conveyed Islamabad’s concern to the highestlevel to the interim Afghan Taliban government as the soldiers againdisrupted the fence constructed on the Durand Line.
Reports in local media said the Afghan Taliban leadership was conveyed astrong message that Pakistan was observing maximum restraint to evade anyescalation in wake of recent developments at the international land border.
In the latest viral clips, Taliban soldiers can be seen thrashing thefencing erected by Pakistan security forces near southern Afghanistan usinga cargo truck.
In light of recent developments, Pakistan is also expected to issue aformal statement on the issue in the coming days as there have beenrepeated incidents where Taliban soldiers tried to remove the fence.
Around 90 percent of the Pak-Afghan border is now stands fenced as thefencing is part of the border mechanism to regulate the movement of peoplebut also to thwart terrorism-related activities.
Some reports also claimed that it’s the local Taliban commanders who wereprovoking border forces on their own.
Earlier, Taliban’s spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said Afghans opposed thefence erected by Pakistan along the Durand Line. He said Afghan authoritieswill announce their position on this issue. We want to create a secure andpeaceful environment on the border so there is no need to create barriers,he opined.
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Meanwhile, the recent escalation started on December 18 when clips onsocial media showed Taliban soldiers seizing spools of barbed wire and onesenior official warning Pakistani border forces not to fence the borderagain.
The recent developments surfaced a week after the Afghan Taliban havelaunched an investigation after their soldiers apparently disrupted thePakistani military’s work of fencing the border. Taliban spokesman BilalKarimi said they were investigating the incident.
Afghan defense ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi confirmed tointernational media that Taliban soldiers stopped the Pakistani militaryfrom building the security fence along with the eastern province ofNangarhar on Sunday.
The recent developments under the interim Taliban government have recalledthe events as the contentious issue provoked border clashes in the pastcausing casualties.
