Families get separated as Pakistan military fences Durand Line border with Afghanistan

Kabul, March 31: Separation of loved ones owing to the division of land and country is not something new in South Asia. The latest incident of such human tragedy has happened in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan of late after the Pakistani military decided to put up fencing along the Durand Line, the country's de factor border with Afghanistan.

According to a report in Afghanistan's TOLOnews, the fencing has left "many families" who have been living in the border areas for decades, separated. One such affected village is Badshah Khan in Gurbuz district in southwest Afghanistan's Khost province.

"Badshah Khan village is located near Ghulam Khan village which is a border town between Afghanistan and Pakistan. One part of the town sits in North Waziristan and the other half in Khost province of Afghanistan. It is the third busiest border crossing between the two countries, after Torkham and Chaman. The people in the area are all ethnic Pashtuns," the report said.

The affected residents complained that they did not have access to schools, health centre and market after the fencing came up.

The Pakistani military said in 2017 that they have resumed work on putting up the fence along the Durand Line for stopping entry of insurgents from crossing the de facto border which is more than 2,600 kilometres long.

The plan for putting up the fence though dates back to 2003 after US-led forces toppled the Taliban rule in Afghanistan in retaliation after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 although the initiative was not as serious then, the report added.