Pakistan ramps up Durand Line fencing despite backlash

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 22 (ANI): Pakistan has finished over 80 per cent of the Durand Line fencing along with Afghanistan despite facing backlash from the people on both side of the line.

The Pakistani interior ministry made the announcement last week saying that the fencing of 2,600-kilometer border would be completed by the June end, Afghanistan Times reported.

In 2017, Pakistan began fencing the Durand Line, posing hurdles for the residents of the two sides who have engaged and connected in mutual social, ethnical and economical interests.

Despite the absence of a concrete agreement with the Afghan government, the Pakistan government has been declaring the Durand Line as an official border.

Afghan diaspora on Monday said Pakistan’s Strategic Depth Policy still underway in Afghanistan causing unbearable suffering among Afghans on both sides of the Durand Line.

“The Pakistani military chiefs have officially admitted supporting groups such as Taliban. They call this interference strategic depth. This policy still continues and has been causing unbearable suffering among Afghans on both sides of the Durand Line,” the Afghan diaspora in the Netherlands was quoted by Pajhwok Afghan News.

As foreign troops are withdrawing from Pakistan, Pakistani interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the country’s Parliament that the next two to three months were very important for Pakistan also.

The border barrier consists of two sets of chain-link fences, separated by a 2-meter (6-foot) space filled with concertina wire coils, Al Jazeera reported. The double-fence, which is 3.6 meters high (11 feet) on the Pakistani side and 4 meters high (13 feet) on the Afghan side, is fitted with surveillance cameras and infrared detectors. (ANI)