QUETTA: A meeting between security officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan to reopen the Friendship Gate at Chaman border reportedly ended without any result on Saturday.
The two sides adopted strict security measures on their respective borders during the meeting, convened at the request of Afghan border officials. The officials deliberated on issues related to the porous border that the two countries share.
Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan in the aftermath of an attack on the Friendship Gate by Afghan nationals on Friday.
“The Afghans humiliated the Pakistani national flag and pelted stones at the Friendship Gate,” said an official. The gate’s closure suspended traffic between the two neighbours, a move that also hampered NATO’s supply to Afghanistan.
“Long queues of trucks and vehicles could be witnessed on both sides of the border,” said Attal Khan Achakzai, a resident of Chaman. People are facing difficulties as a result of the border closure, he said, adding that traders remained the worst sufferers of the closure.
About the period of closure, a paramilitary officer said that the border had been closed for an indefinite time, adding that no timeframe could be given for its reopening.
