QUETTA: Two Pakistani civilians were killed while two others were injured on Wednesday after Afghan forces fired on them at the southwestern Chaman border gate between the two countries, an official said, amid a fresh row between the two countries over illegal immigrants in Pakistan.
Border tensions between the two countries have risen since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, as Islamabad accuses militants of using Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan. Afghan authorities have rejected the allegations and said it does not allow militants to use Afghan soil for subversive activities.
Tensions between the two countries escalated on Tuesday after Pakistan announced it would deport illegal immigrants living in the country from Nov. 1 after a steep rise in militant attacks in the country. The move is likely to impact over a million Afghan refugees who have been living in the country for decades now.
Chaman Deputy Commissioner Athar Abbas Raja told Arab News that Afghan border guards opened indiscriminate firing at the Chaman border crossing — also known as Friendship Gate — which halted pedestrian movement for some time.
“As a result of the firing by the Afghan Taliban at Chaman border crossing, a 12-year-old boy and an elderly pedestrian aged 70 were killed,” Raja said, adding that two other civilians were injured in the incident. He said both the injured and the deceased were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Chaman.
Raja said Pakistani border forces were on alert but the situation is under control.
“The friendship gate has not been shut down, and the recent matter has been reported to the higher authorities which will take it up with the Afghan government,” the deputy commissioner said.
In a separate statement, Pakistan Army’s media wing said Pakistani border forces exercised restraint to protect innocent passengers’ lives at the border crossing.
“Afghan authorities have been approached to inquire the reason of such irresponsible and reckless act, apprehend and hand over the culprit to Pakistani authorities,” the army’s media wing said. “IAG is also expected to exercise control over its troops and impart discipline to act responsibly in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future.”
Muhammed Hamza Shafqaat, commissioner of Quetta division, told Arab News that Pakistan is ready to face any backlash from Afghanistan’s forces after the government’s policy to deport illegal immigrants and allow only persons with a valid passport and entry visa to enter Pakistan after Nov. 1.
“The Pakistani government has decided a new one-document policy for Afghan citizens who want to enter into Pakistan,” Shafqat told reporters at a news conference. “The administration in Chaman is engaged with the Afghan officials but we will implement the new policy at Pak-Afghan Chaman border.
Last month, the Torkham border crossing between the two countries remained closed for eight days after clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan’s border forces.
Another bone of contention between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the Durand Line, a 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) demarcation created while the British ruled the sub-continent. From the time Pakistan gained its independence in 1947 till today, the line serves as a border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Pakistan says the Durand Line is the official border between the two states, Afghanistan has historically rejected the same.
Pakistan says two killed after cross-border firing from Afghan forces in Chaman
https://arab.news/5phph
Pakistan says two killed after cross-border firing from Afghan forces in Chaman
- Development takes place amid fresh row between the two countries over ‘illegal immigrants’ in Pakistan
- Afghan authorities have been approached over such ‘irresponsible and reckless act,’ says Pakistan’s army
Pakistan puts border districts on high alert amid Iran protests — official
- The development comes as Iranian authorities try to suppress protests over faltering economy, with over 2,600 killed
- Militancy in Balochistan has declined following the return of nearly 1 million Afghans, the additional chief secretary says
QUETTA: Pakistan has heightened security along districts bordering Iran as violent protests continue to engulf several Iranian cities, a top official in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province said on Thursday, with authorities stepping up vigilance to guard against potential spillover.
The development comes as Iranian authorities try to suppress protests, which began late last month over the country’s faltering economy and the collapse of its currency, with more than 2,600 killed in weeks of violence in the Islamic republic.
The clampdown on demonstrations, the worst since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution, has drawn threats from the United States (US) of a military intervention on behalf of the protesters, raising fears of further tensions in an already volatile region.
Pakistan, which shares a 909-kilometer-long border with Iran in its southwest, has said that it is closely monitoring the situation in the neighboring country and advised its citizens to keep essential travel documents with them amid the unrest.
“The federal government is monitoring the situation regarding what is happening in Iran and the provincial government is in touch with the federal government,” Hamza Shafqaat, an additional chief secretary at the Balochistan Home Department, told Arab News in an exclusive interview on Thursday.
“As far as the law and order is concerned in all bordering districts with Iran, we are on high alert and as of now, the situation is very normal and peaceful at the border.”
Asked whether Islamabad had suspended cross-border movement and trade with Iran, Shafqaat said trade was ongoing, but movement of tourists and pilgrims had been stopped.
“There were few students stuck in Iran, they were evacuated, and they reached Gwadar,” he said. “Around 200 students are being shifted to their home districts.”
SITUATION ON PAKISTAN-AFGHANISTAN BORDER
Pakistan’s Balochistan province has long been the site of an insurgency by ethnic Baloch separatists and religiously motivated groups like the Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Besides Iran, the province shares more around 1,000-kilometer porous border with Afghanistan.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil for attacks against Pakistan, an allegation denied by Kabul. In Oct., Pakistan and Afghanistan engaged in worst border clashes in decades over a surge in militancy in Pakistan. While the neighbors agreed to a ceasefire in Doha that month, relations between them remain tensed.
Asked about the government’s measures to secure the border with Afghanistan, Shafqaat said militancy in the region had declined following the return of nearly 1 million Afghan nationals as part of a repatriation drive Islamabad announced in late 2023.
“There is news that some of them keep on coming back from one border post or some other areas because we share a porous border and it is very difficult to man every inch of this border,” he said.
“On any intervention from the Afghanistan side, our security agencies which are deputed at the border are taking daily actions.”
LAW AND ORDER CHALLENGE
Balochistan witnessed 167 bomb blasts among over 900 militant attacks in 2025, which killed more than 400 people, according to the provincial government’s annual law and order report. But officials say the law-and-order situation had improved as compared to the previous year.
“More than 720 terrorists were killed in 2025 which is a higher number of operations against terrorists in many decades, while over a hundred terrorists were detained by law enforcement agencies in 90,000-plus security operations in Balochistan,” Shafqaat said.
The provincial government often suspended mobile Internet service in the southwestern province on various occasions last year, aimed at ensuring security in Balochistan.
“With that step, I am sure we were able to secure hundreds of lives,” Shafqaat said, adding it was only suspended in certain areas for less than 25 days last year.
“The Internet service through wireless routers remained open for the people in the entire year, we closed mobile Internet only for people on the roads because the government understands the difficulties of students and business community hence we are trying to reduce the closure of mobile Internet.”
