Afghan presidential election: Pakistan opens border terminals on neighbour's request

Afghan presidential election: Pakistan opens border terminals on neighbour's request

Islamabad (Web Desk): Pakistan has decided to open major border terminals on the Pak-Afghan border during Afghan Presidential election after receiving a request from its neighbour.

In a post on Twitter, the Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said that Pakistan received request from Afghanistan MoD on very short notice for border facilitation & opening of border crossings during Afghan Presidential elections on 28 September.

Inspite of security issues along the border, Pakistan will continue to support its Afghan brothers, he added.

The FO spokesperson said that “it has been decided to open major border terminals to facilitate movement of Afghan citizen across Pakistan Afghanistan border, so that they are able to exercise their right to vote during presidential election in Afghanistan”.

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On September 26, Pakistan had announced the closure of all border crossings with Afghanistan on September 27-28 for strengthening security in view of the fourth presidential election being held in the war-torn country on Saturday.

The restriction was to apply to all cross-border movements except for emergency patients.

However, an FO statement issued late on Friday said Pakistan had received a request from the Afghan Ministry of Defence "on very short notice" for border facilitation and opening of border crossings during the presidential elections scheduled for September 28.