ISLAMABAD: The army has started to man the front-line positions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Minister Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced.
The decision has been taken in wake of the volatile situation across the border, he said while addressing a press conference.
The authorities have moved the Frontier Constabulary, Levies and other paramilitary forces from the positions. The FC Balochistan and other agencies, who were working under the interior ministry, have been called back. They used to conduct border patrolling.
“Now, regular army troops are manning the border after replacing the paramilitary forces,” the minister said.
The situation not only demands containment of influx of refugees from across the border but also the entry of armed security personnel and militants into Pakistan, Rasheed said.
Earlier, Pakistan allowed “up to 4,000 Afghans” to cross into Afghanistan through its border. The strategic town across the border in Afghanistan is held by the Taliban. AFP quoted a border official as saying that the move was taken on “humanitarian grounds”.
The government also partially opened the Chaman border crossing on Saturday. Thousands of Afghans were left stranded in Chaman after Taliban fighters captured the crucial border town of Spin Boldak from Kabul on Wednesday.
“We have opened the Chaman border […] allowing crowds of up to 4,000 Afghans including women and children to cross over to Afghanistan to celebrate Eidul Adha with their families, purely on humanitarian grounds,” a border official, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
People would be allowed to cross until the evening, with the possibility the border would open again tomorrow, the official added.
Muhammad Tayyab, a local paramilitary official, said the decision was taken because of “relative calm on the other side”, but said the crossing would remain closed to trade.
An AFP photographer said the gates were rushed by families as soon as they opened.
