Pakistani paramilitary forces on Thursday clashed with hundreds of Afghans in Chaman area of Balochistan, the border town with Afghanistan.
The disturbances broke out after a 56-year-old Afghan traveller died of a heart attack as he waited in the dusty heat to enter Afghanistan via the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing, Arif Kakar, a Pakistani official on the scene, told Reuters.
According to the Dawn News, protesters carried his body to a local Pakistani government office demanding the border be reopened. Some began throwing stones at security forces, who responded by firing tear gas and charging the protesters with batons to disperse them.
The Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing is landlocked Afghanistan’s second busiest entry point and main commercial artery to the Pakistani seacoast.
The crossing was captured by the Taliban last month, announced its closure on Aug 6. The Taliban are demanding Pakistan allow Afghans to cross the frontier with either an Afghan ID card or a Pakistani-issued refugee registration card, Dawn reported.
It is to mention that around 900 trucks went through the Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing daily before the Taliban seized it.