Casualties 'reported' as protesters storm Pak-Afghan border crossing at Chaman

CHAMAN: Reports of casualties and injuries have emerged from Chaman where protestors stormed a border post at Pak-Afghan border, ARY NEWS reported.

According to Levies officials, the protestors staging sit-in stormed a border crossing at Bab-i-Dosti at Pakistan-Afghanistan border, vandalizing a quarantine centre.

Home Minister Balochistan Ziaullah Langu confirmed the reports and said that there were reports of casualties while some people have also sustained injuries during the incident.

He asked the masses to cooperate with the authorities to clear the border from terrorist elements, who are bent on threatening the state.

Some labourers were on a strike on the border, who later stormed the border crossing, he said.

He said that they do not want to deal with the protestors in a heavy-handed manner as they were like their brothers.

The home minister further warned the foreign forces against attacking Pakistani citizens. “We are in contact with the federal authorities over reopening of the border crossing,” he said and added that security forces were on alert position to foil any designs of the enemy.

It is pertinent to mention here that Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan has urged to find a permanent solution to end closure of Chaman border with Afghanistan on July 04.

Balochistan CM Jam Kamal Khan chaired a high-level meeting to discuss strategies to end the issue of Chaman border closure on a permanent basis. The meeting was attended by officials of the Balochistan home department and other senior officers.

They also discussed matters related to Afghan transit trade and smuggling of prohibited products.

CM Khan was briefed that approximately 12,000 to 15,000 people were using the border crossing, whereas, 90 per cent of products sent to Afghanistan were brought to Pakistan without paying duties.

He was also apprised that anti-state elements got benefitted of illegal movement and smuggling from the border crossing.