Pakistan on Thursday temporarily closed the Chaman border crossing – the second-largest commercial border point with Afghanistan – due to security threats, said the country’s Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, AP reported.
“We will be closing the Chaman crossing for a while,” Ahmed said, but did not specify how long the border would be shut for. “Our forces are present at the border. We are proud of our security institutions for the service they are rendering for the security of the country.”
The border crossing links Pakistan’s Chaman town with Spin Boldak district in the Afghan province of Kandahar. The border crossing is used for trade between the two countries.
Pakistan’s decision to shut its borders came amid fears of a refugee influx after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan.
Reports said that four people had died in a stampede as huge crowds gathered at the border crossing point. There are videos on social media that showed people jostling to cross the entry point at the border.
Shahid Ullah, who was trying to flee Afghanistan, told CNN that he lost his 64-year-old father in the chaos. “Me and my father were trying to cross the border with the rest of our family, I lost my father in the stampede, later we found him dead,” Ullah said.
Thousands of Afghan citizens have been desperately trying to escape the country since August 15, when the Taliban seized control of Kabul.
Pakistan security officials have already said that they are not in a position to accept more refugees, fearing that about a million people will try to enter the country if border regulations were relaxed.
Pakistan has more than 3 million Afghan refugees. At least 5,000 Afghans were denied entry into Pakistan at the crossing in Spin Boldak district on Wednesday, an official from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency told CNN.
“Numbers might be higher,” the official added.
There are about a dozen crossing points along the 2,670-km border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Pakistan government allows entry to only those who have travel documents.
More than 90% of Pakistan’s shared border with Afghanistan is fenced.
UK foreign secretary visits Pakistan
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is expected to visit Pakistan to discuss the Afghanistan situation.
Raab will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on “the evolving situation in Afghanistan and bilateral matters,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
He is also supposed to discuss efforts to secure the safe passage for Britons and others from Afghanistan, according to BBC. “It is vital that we help those fleeing Afghanistan and do not allow the crisis there to undermine regional stability,” said Raab.
The UK has so far evacuated over 17,000 people, including 5,000 Britons, from Afghanistan. The last British plane flying people out of Kabul took off on August 28. However, there are still thousands of people left behind in Afghanistan, including UK citizens and many Afghans who have worked for the British.
Domestic flights to resume in Afghanistan
Meanwhile, domestic flights will resume operations in Afghanistan from Friday, AFP quoted Ariana Afghan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier airline as saying.
“We have received a green light from the Taliban and aviation authorities and plan to start flights today.” the agency quoted Tamim Ahmadi, a senior manager with the airline, as saying.
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