Daily Times

PPP Senator Raza Rabbani Sunday called for a joint parliament session to hold a briefing on last week’s terrorist attack at the Pak-Afghan border crossing in Chaman that martyred a Frontier Corps (FC) soldier and injured another two.

The trade activities and other cross-border movements were halted under the border closure after unidentified armed men opened fire on the Pakistani security troops from inside Afghanistan, martyring an FC soldier and injuring two others on November 13.

“Armed men from Afghanistan opened fire on the Pakistan security forces personnel at the Friendship Gate,” Rabbani said while sharing the details about a flag meeting between the authorities from the two sides. He said that Saturday’s flag meeting remained futile.

The senator further stated that a rise in terrorist activities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has been observed, while the progress in parleys with the banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) remains unclear.

Calling for a joint parliament session, Rabbani said that a special briefing should be given on the terrorist attack at the Friendship Gate and progress on talks with TTP should be shared.

He also called for a briefing on the increase in terrorist activities in the two provinces and said that amendments in the rules for the appointment of the chairman and the reformation of the parliamentary committee of national security should be notified.

Rabbani said that the Pak-Afghan border crossing at Chaman will remain closed for an indefinite period.

Hundreds of trucks containing goods were stuck waiting on both sides of the border, which Chaman Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hameed Zehri said was closed after prolonged firing between security forces from both sides.

A spokesperson for the media wing of Pakistan’s military said they were looking into the situation to determine what had happened.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, in her weekly press briefing Thursday, said that matter has been raised with the Afghan authorities and is currently under investigation.

Baloch said that the pedestrians who were stranded at the border have been allowed to cross and we remain vigilant and actively involved in the matter.

Pakistan has called on the Taliban to ensure it lives up to promises that it would not harbour international militants. The Taliban denies harbouring militants.