Border fencing to check terrorism, not obstacle for people: Gen Bajwa

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that the fencing along the Durand Line will not create obstacles for the people on two sides.

According to Inter Services Public Relations, Gen Bajwa made the remarks while meeting President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani during his visit to Kabul on Tuesday. The statement says Gen Bajwa during his visit to Kabul had an exclusive one-on-one meeting with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani followed by delegation-level discussion.

Referring to border fencing, the army chief said the border fencing was an obstacle for checking terrorism, not for the people on both sides. Pakistan started work on fencing the line in June last year, covering the areas which the Pakistani authorities are the most prone in terms of the movement of the militants.

Maj Gen Nauman Zakaria, the commander for the South Waziristan tribal region, had told reporters that no “terrorist” will be able to use Afghan or Pakistani soil to launch cross-border attacks after the fencing is completed.

“(The fence) is a paradigm change. It is an epoch shift in the border control management,” he said, adding that “There will not be an inch of international border (in South Waziristan) which shall not remain under our observation.”