Pakistan takes up diplomats harassment issue with Kabul govt

ISLAMABAD: Top officials from Pakistan on Monday visited Afghanistan to take up the matter of harassment of country’s diplomats in the neighboring war-torn country, ARY News reported on Monday.

The recent episode of the harassment continued for the eighth consecutive day on November 09 when some vehicles of Afghan security officials, without bearing a registration number plate, hit the vehicles of Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul and harassed the diplomatic officials.

Earlier on November 6, Pakistani diplomats continued to be harassed by intelligence officials in Kabul and its sub-missions on the fifth consecutive day even after Pakistan conveyed its concerns to Afghanistan.

In a video, an armed man could be seen coming out from his car and walking near the vehicle of Pakistani diplomats.

The Pakistani side met with Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor, DG National Directorate of Security (NDS)- the primary intelligence agency- and the foreign minister. The meeting between the two sides mulled over recent incidents of harassment of Pakistani diplomats.

It was decided to formulate a technical committee in order to address the issues faced by the two sides properly.

It is pertinent to mention here that the foreign office had also summoned Afghan Charge d’Affairs and conveyed serious concerns over the safety and security of the diplomatic personnel of the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul.

According to a statement issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office, Pakistani diplomats had been obstructed by Kabul officials on roads, often hit by anonymous motorcycles while heading towards the Pakistani Embassy from their residencies in the capital city.