ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday it had handed back Afghan soldiers and civil officers to Afghan government authorities, a day after they slipped across the border into northwestern Pakistan.
The Afghan troops were fleeing after their border post was overrun, apparently by the Taliban.
A statement from the Pakistan army on Monday said 46 members of the Afghan forces, including five officers, crossed the border late Sunday near the Pakistani border town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“46 Afg [Afghan] soldiers including 5 officers have been returned to Afghan govt authorities at Nawapass Bajaur today [Tuesday] at 0035 hours, Pakistan Standard Time,” the army’s media wing, ISPR, said on Tuesday. “These soldiers from the Afghan National Army and Border Police were given safe passage into Pakistan, on their own request, by Pakistan Army in Arundu Sector of Pak-Afghan International Border, Chitral, on 25th Jul.”
#WATCH: #PakistanArmy has returned 46 Afghan soldiers including 5 officers to #Afghanistan at Nawapass Bajaur on Tuesday. || #Pakistan
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Courtesy: ISPR
-https://t.co/eGzOWnWyu4 pic.twitter.com/c7d8xIEKXm— Arab News Pakistan (@arabnewspk) July 27, 2021
After necessary clearance, the Afghan soldiers crossed into Pakistan along with their weapons, ammunition and communication equipment, the Pakistan army said.
“The said soldiers have now been amicably returned to Afghan authorities on their request along with their weapons and equipment,” the military’s media wing added. “Pakistan will continue to extend all kinds of support to our Afghan brethren in time of need.”
The Afghan government denied Monday its troops crossed into Pakistan.
“This issue is not true. No Afghan military personnel have taken refuge in Pakistan, the sensitivity that all Afghans have against Pakistan and especially our military, is clear to all,” said Gen. Ajmal Omer Shinwari, spokesman for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. He made the statement at a press conference in the Afghan capital Kabul.
But early on Tuesday, Pakistan’s military distributed a video of Afghan soldiers in uniform being greeted by Pakistani troops.
Neither Pakistan nor Afghanistan have provided information about fighting on the Afghan side of the border. Pakistan’s military has dismissed the Afghan denial.
The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks in Afghanistan, and seized strategic border crossings with several neighboring countries. They are also threatening a number of provincial capitals — advances that come as the last US and NATO soldiers complete their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The insurgents are said to now control about half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers.