KABUL (SW) – The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan officials have rejected claims made by the Pakistani interior minister regarding fencing at the Durand Line.
Pakistani Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmadi told Pakistani media two days ago that the issue of continuing to erect barbed wire on the Durand Line with Afghanistan had been resolved and that they would work with the Islamic Emirate to install barbed wire along the line. He said the country’s military had made many sacrifices to install the barbed wire, which had come at a financial cost.
However, Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, told Salam Watandar that no agreement had been signed with Pakistani officials about the Durand Line. He added that the IEA had not yet reached an agreement with Pakistan on the issue, and that the Pakistani interior minister may have spoken about the interactions they had agreed with previous governments.
At the same time, experts in political affairs and international relations consider the engagement of the Islamic Emirate with the issue of Durand’s Line to their loss. International affairs expert Khpalwak Zazi says the Durand Line issue could provoke sensitivities among residents on both sides of the line, and may have been fueled by Pakistani officials to block the legitimacy of the current system, creating a gap between the people and the state.
On the other hand, Hamidullah Hotak, a political analyst, sees any decision on Durand Line as not the stake of the government but the prerequisite of the residents on both sides of the line. He says that the installation of barbed wire on this line had started during the previous government and some areas have been wired and some other areas have not been wired yet.
According to this political scientist, if the Islamic Emirate has agreed with Pakistani officials to continue the installation of barbed wire, it has made a big mistake, and if the previous government agreed with Pakistan on the installation of barbed wire, it would be considered a national betrayal.
It should be noted that the issue of installing barbed wire by the Pakistani military had already met with strong reactions from residents on both sides of the Durand Line, and fighting broke out in some work areas, resulting in casualties.
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