Pak-Afghan border fencing to be completed in 2019: DG ISPR

GHULAM KHAN:  Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor Sunday said work on around 900-kilometre fence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border had been completed, adding that the fence has  stopped  cross-border attacks.

Briefing a team of journalists and anchorpersons at Ghulam Khan, a bordering village in North Waziristan Agency, the military spokesperson  said the work on the erection of about 1200 km chunk was commenced last year, adding that  the fencing  would be completed during the current year.

He said about 1200 kms of the border lay in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the rest part of the total 2600 kms was in Balochistan.

In a separate interview with senior journalist and TV anchor Hamid Mir, DG ISPR  said that the fence has made it difficult  for terrorists to cross the border, adding that it will stop   cross-border terrorism and  uncontrolled movement of the people even if  the law and order situation gets worst again in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops.

Geo News will broadcast the detailed interview of  DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor on Monday night  (tonight) at 08:00pm. 

Media team visits Miran Shah and Ghulam Khan

Journalists and anchor-persons representing national and international media for the first time Sunday visited Miran Shah and Ghulam Khan Border Terminal along with Director General Inter Services Public Relations Major General AsifGhafoor and interacted with the local populace.

Earlier, Commander 11 Corps Lt Gen Shaheen and his team separately arranged a briefing at the Corps Headquarters Peshawar. During the question and answer session, the Corps Commander said after the end of war in the area the troops were now in the process of consolidation while steps were in hand to resettle about 4,000 families, which had earlier gone to Afghanistan some four decades back.

The journalists directly interacted with the people, including students, traders, and common men, to know their views about the operation and its aftermath.

They expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the operation, which, according to them, had helped bring peace and normalcy in the region.

They said the development activities undertaken by the Pakistan Army helped them join the national mainstream as it would go a long way in bringing economic prosperity in the area.

The people made selfies with the DG ISPR and the media persons besides, expressing jubilation.

Answering a question regarding the impact of reconciliation process in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan had been playing a role into it and if the parties concerned stroke some mutual settlement it would ultimately be in its interest also. Due to that settlement, he said, the terror elements having the backing of inimical forces in Afghanistan, like the TTP [Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan] would have to opt for some reconciliatory path as they would be left with no other choice.