KABUL: Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul said Sunday it was indefinitely closing its consular office in the Afghan capital due to security reasons, amid mounting tensions between the neighboring countries.
Closure of the visa section will come as a huge blow for many Afghans, hundreds of whom apply daily for permits to travel to Pakistan where they seek medical treatment, goods and university educations.
A message shared on WhatsApp by an embassy spokesman said the consular section would be closed as of Monday “until further intimation.”
The spokesman told AFP that the consular section typically processes about 1,500 visa applications a day.
In Islamabad, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the Afghan charge d’affaires had been summoned to “convey serious concerns over the safety and security of the diplomatic personnel of the embassy of Pakistan, Kabul, and its sub-missions.”
In a statement, the ministry said embassy staff were being harassed.
“They were obstructed on the road and the embassy vehicles were also hit by motorcycles while going toward the embassy,” the statement read.
Protests outside the Pakistani embassy are common, sometimes triggered by people unhappy about visa wait times or security while standing in long queues.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, both Islamic republics, have long been fraught, with Afghans blaming Islamabad for any number of woes including allegedly supporting the Taliban.
Pakistan denies it helps the insurgent group.
Tensions have soured further in recent days amid clashes along the border in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Kunar.
Both sides have accused each other’s troops of cross-border shelling.
The Pakistani foreign ministry has said six Pakistani troops were wounded October 27 and 28 in “unprovoked mortar and heavy weapon firing” by Afghan soldiers.
Pakistani consular services remain open in Herat, Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif, according to the embassy spokesman, who recommended that applicants travel to Jalalabad if they needed a visa urgently.
Pakistan embassy in Kabul closes visa section amid tensions
Pakistan embassy in Kabul closes visa section amid tensions
- Consular office was closed citing security reasons amid mounting tensions between the two countries
- Consular section typically processes 1,500 visas a day, spokesman says
At least 42 civilians killed in Afghanistan in conflict with Pakistan, UN agency says
- Civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire, airstrikes, says UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
- Conflict was sparked last Thursday after Afghan forces said were retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes earlier this month
KABUL/ISLAMABAD: At least 42 civilians have been killed and 104 wounded in Afghanistan in the fighting with Pakistan between February 26 and March 2, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Tuesday, as the military conflict between the neighbors entered its sixth day.
Military tensions between the South Asian nations remained high on Tuesday, with Afghanistan saying it had captured another Pakistani post in the Kandahar region and the fighting between the allies-turned-foes was “still ongoing.”
“The civilian casualties include those caused by indirect fire in cross-border clashes...as well as those caused by airstrikes,” the UN agency said, adding that the numbers were “preliminary.”
The conflict — the worst between the countries in years — was sparked last week by what Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers said were retaliatory strikes on Pakistani installations in response to Pakistan’s targeting of militants in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan says Pakistani forces targeted its civilians, a charge Islamabad denies.
Islamabad has launched air-to-ground missiles at Taliban military sites over the last week, and even directly targeted the Taliban government for the first time over allegations it harbors militants executing attacks on Pakistan from its soil.
Pakistani forces destroyed a military base in Nangarhar province of Afghanistan in a successful air operation, Pakistani security sources said on Tuesday.
UNAMA CALLS FOR HALT TO FIGHTING
Both sides have claimed to have killed scores of troops of the other and inflicted heavy damage on military facilities since the fighting began.
Reuters has not been able to verify the numbers.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, while addressing a joint session of parliament on Monday, reiterated that Islamabad would not allow territory in its neighborhood to be used for attacks against it.
“The soil of Pakistan is sacred. We will not allow any entity — domestic or foreign — to use neighboring territory to destabilize our peace,” he said.
UNAMA called for a halt to the fighting and warned that the violence, which has displaced an estimated 16,400 households, has worsened the situation of Afghanistan’s people who were still recovering from successive earthquakes in August and September that killed more than 1,400 people.
“Restrictions on movements in the border area due to the active conflict have reduced the capacity of humanitarian agencies and partners to deliver life-saving and other assistance in the most-affected areas,” it said.
