Displaced residents start returning to Chaman border towns

CHAMAN: Perturbed by the cross-border clashes between Pakistan and Afghan security forces, the residents of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir villages on the border with Afghanistan have started coming back to their homes as peace returned to the town.

The fierce clashes between the security forces of two countries displaced as many as 5,000 people last month.

The clashes led closure of the border from Pakistan’s side in protest of unprovoked firing by Afghan forces. However, the border was reopened on May 22 on request of Afghan authorities.

According to state radio, medical camps have also been set up to provide the returnees medical facilities.

It is worth mentioning here that on May 5, Afghan forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan personnel accompanying a census team in two border villages. As many as 11 people were killed and 46 injured in the firing incident on the Pakistani side, prompting clashes between the security forces of two countries. In the retaliatory firing by Pakistani security forces, dozens of Afghan forces were also killed.

Kabul then dismissed the Pakistani claims of inflicting heavy losses to Afghan forces and said that the villages where the census team intended to carry out house count were located on Afghan territory.

After reopening of the border, the Pakistan Army’s media wing said, “After the Chaman incident, Pakistan has its area under effective control and Afghan border police have been pushed back.”