ISLAMABAD: Pakistani and Afghan officials are expected to hold yet another meeting on Monday to discuss the situation emerging from the closure of a key border crossing between their countries after a Pakistani checkpoint was targeted from the other side of the frontier on November 13, reported the local media.

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 neighboring states. However, the armed clash which took place last Sunday, led to an indefinite shutdown of the border crossing, as Pakistani officials asked Afghan authorities to hand over the people who targeted its paramilitary troops at the Chaman Friendship Gate.

According to Dawn, Pakistani officials, including Chaman deputy commissioner Abdul Hameed Zehri, called for a “joint mechanism” to end such incidents of border skirmishes during their last meeting with their Afghan counterparts.

“It was decided to hold another flag meeting on Monday in which the possibility of reopening the border would be discussed and a decision would be taken,” the newspaper said.

The report added the Taliban officials had also taken up the problems faced by Afghan women while crossing the border, saying a separate route should be set up for them where female security personnel were posted by Pakistan.

It may be recalled that Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid expressed regret over the border attack that killed a Pakistani soldier while saying some unknown armed men had fled after opening fire at the border checkpoint.

“The security institutions of the Islamic Emirate are trying to pay serious attention to prevent such incidents from happening again,” an official statement had quoted him as saying.

The suspension of trade due to the closure of the border crossing has also raised multiple challenges for the business community on both sides of the border.
Hajji Imran Kakar, a former president of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News last week traders were facing huge financial losses since the attack on the border checkpoint.

“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 said.

However, Kakar added that Pakistani traders supported their government’s stance over the issue.