The spokesperson for the Foreign Office has called the statement of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the closure of the Torkham border surprising.
The spokesperson says that on September 6, Afghan soldiers resorted to unprovoked firing instead of a peaceful solution.
Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has said that the interim Afghan authorities are well aware of the reasons for the temporary closure of the Torkham border.
On September 6, Afghan soldiers attacked Pakistani military posts at the border, and damaged the basic infrastructure of the border terminal, putting the lives of people at risk.
The spokesperson further said that firing at the Pakistani border posts cannot be justified under any circumstances. Such elements are using their hideouts in Afghanistan.
The unprovoked firing by the Afghan Border Security Forces encourages terrorist elements, she remarked.
She further said that the Security Council’s Analytical Support, Sanctions Monitoring Team has confirmed this. It is desired that there should be a border of peace and friendship between the two countries.
Baloch said that Afghan brothers and sisters have been welcomed with open hearts for many decades, adding that Pakistan has showed restraint on the continuous unwarranted provocations by the Afghan troops.
The temporary closure happens only in extreme cases such as the September 6 incident on the border, the spokesperson commented.
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has alleged in its statement that on September 6, Afghan soldiers were fired upon by the Pakistan side during the construction of an old checkpoint.
