Pakistan keeps Chaman border closed as Afghan officials regret shooting of paramilitary soldier

QUETTA: A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for a third consecutive day after an armed clash between the security guards on both sides of the frontier claimed the life of a Pakistani paramilitary soldier, though a Taliban spokesman regretted the incident on Tuesday and promised to thoroughly probe it. 
Chaman in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province is one of the busiest border crossings that is used by thousands of people on a daily basis to travel between the two countries. According to official estimates, over 500 trucks carrying different goods to markets also take the same trade route which connects both the neighboring states. 
However, the armed clash which took place on November 13, led to an indefinite shutdown of the border crossing, as Pakistani officials asked Afghan authorities to hand over the people who targeted its checkpoint at the Chaman Friendship Gate. 
“The border gate has remained closed for a third day in a row since we stand by our demand that the Taliban hand over the attackers who killed our paramilitary solider and injured two others at the Chaman Friendship Gate,” Shahzad Zehri, the assistant commissioner in the area, told Arab News. 
He said the Pakistani government allowed stranded Afghan citizens to cross over into their country on humanitarian grounds a day before, adding the Afghan border forces also did the same for Pakistani nationals on their side. 
Hajji Imran Kakar, a former president of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said traders on both sides would bear huge losses due to the border closure. 
“There are around 200 transit containers stranded at the Chaman border, and each one pays $120 in detention charges to the shipping companies as a regular fee,” he told Arab News. 
However, Kakar added that Pakistani traders supported their government’s stance over the issue. 
In a statement issued in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, expressed regret over the killing of the Pakistani soldier while saying some unknown armed men had fled after opening fire at the Pakistani border checkpoint. 
“The security institutions of the Islamic Emirate are trying to pay serious attention to prevent such incidents from happening again,” he added. 
Hajji Zaid, who represents the office of the governor of Kandahar in Afghanistan, told Arab News over the phone the authorities in Kabul had constituted a committee to hunt down the men involved in the attack. 
“Governor Kandahar and other senior Taliban officials have been working to resolve the border issue with Pakistan in order to resume trade and pedestrian movements through Spin Boldak and Chaman border,” he continued.