Quetta: Two Pakistani citizens martyred, two other injured on Wednesday after Afghan forces at Pakistan-Afghanistan Chaman Border gate in Balochistan Province opened unprovoked and indiscriminate firing at pedestrians moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan, according to ISPR.
The explosion left hundreds stranded on both sides. FC Balochistan announced the temporary closure of the Chaman Border for pedestrians.
The ISPR statement reads "The incident occurred at the outbound gate located on the zero line. Resultantly, two innocent Pakistani citizens including a 12 years old child martyred, while another child was injured",
"Pakistani troops exercised extreme restraint and avoided any exchange of fire in presence of innocent passengers to avoid collateral damage."
Dead bodies of the deceased have been shifted to DHQ Hospital Chaman and the injured child, who was immediately evacuated by security forces, is under treatment.
The statement further added "Afghan authorities have been approached to inquire the reason of such irresponsible and reckless act, apprehend and hand over the culprit to Pakistani authorities. IAG is also expected to exercise control over its troops and impart discipline to act responsibly in order to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future."
This development comes after Pakistan announced it would deport illegal immigrants living in the country from November 1 after a steep rise in militant attacks in the country. The move is likely to impact over a million Afghan refugees who have been living in the country for decades now.
The Chaman border crossing is a major transit point of trucks moving fruits and other goods exports from around the Afghan city of Kandahar. It is also used by thousands pedestrians on daily basis, some of them seeking medical treatment in Pakistan.
Earlier, in September, Torkham border in KPK was closed for 9 days after cross border firing.