Taliban says they did not allow Pak to continue fencing along Durand Line

Durand Line has been a bone of contention between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taliban on Tuesday said that it did not allow the Pakistani government to continue fencing along the Durand Line.

Taliban's acting Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid said that consultations are currently ongoing among high-ranking officials within the Islamic Emirate, reported Tolo News.

Earlier, Pakistan's interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that fencing along the Durand Line was more than 90 per cent complete and he pledged it would be completed, but the Afghan acting defense minister in an interview with National Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA), said that so far Pakistan has not been allowed to complete the fencing.

"We have proposed this issue to the Council of Ministers, as well as to the leadership. Consultations are underway on this issue, and we will act on any guidance given to us by the leadership. We have not allowed anyone to fence so far," he said.

Meanwhile, residents who are living near the Durand Line areas say they do not consider fencing on the Durand Line acceptable and they called on the Taliban to take serious actions to prevent fencing the de facto border with Pakistan, reported Tolo News.

Muhibullah Gharwal is a resident of one of the most remote villages of Kunar near the Durand Line.

He says the fencing along the line is being done unilaterally and Pakistan should not be allowed to complete the fencing.

According to residents, Pakistan not only continues to fence along the line but also regularly attacks their villages with artillery, which has made life difficult for people living in border villages near the Durand Line, reported Tolo News.

"Occasionally Pakistani forces launch rocket attacks on these villages, which has caused many problems for the people of Kunar," said Muhibullah Gharwal, resident of Marwah district of Kunar.

"This is an illegal and non-diplomatic act, the Afghans have never accepted this line and will not accept it," said Ahmad Khan Andar, a political analyst.

Meanwhile, the bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Taliban are turning hostile over the issue of Durand Line and cross-border "terror activities" of groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against Islamabad.

Taliban have not accepted the Durand Line as the 'official' boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan. There have been frequent skirmishes between Taliban and Pak security forces along the border after the fall of Kabul in August 2021.