A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has reopened two days after a cross-border exchange of fire killed at least nine Pakistani civilians and an Afghan soldier.
Abdul Hameed Zehri, an official at Chaman as the crossing on the Pakistani side is known, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday the situation there is back to normal. ”The border is open for trade and civilian use as usual. Things are running smoothly and situation is calm here,” Zehri said.
The Chaman border crossing, situated nearly 120km (74 miles) northwest of Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, is one of the busiest crossings between the two countries and is used by thousands of people every day.
On Sunday, the Pakistani military said “unprovoked and indiscriminate” firing from the Afghan side at the crossing killed several civilians and wounded more than a dozen others – the latest deadly flare-up at their tense border.
The next day, Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament the Afghan authorities had apologised for the firing.
The minister added that officials from both sides met following the incident, in which Afghan authorities assured such an incident would not be repeated.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
