Pakistan border guards shot dead Afghan man trying to cross over illegally

Islamabad, Aug 27 (EFE).- Pakistani border guards shot dead a suspected Afghan refugee and wounded three others Friday as they allegedly tried to cross over illegally from Afghanistan.

“Some Afghans tried to cross the border illegally, and the security forces shot them,” an officer at the Torkham crossing told EFE, requesting anonymity.

The source said the four tried to jump over the border fence between the two countries.

One of them died, and the other three were wounded, he said.

“A warning is written on the border that those who try to cross the border will be shot down,” the source said.

The incident took place at the Torkham border crossing, the busiest commercial point between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Tens of thousands of Afghans are escaping Taliban rule in Afghanistan and have been desperately waiting at the Kabul airport to board foreign evacuation flights.

Islamic State suicide bombers Thursday killed nearly 100 people, including American soldiers, at the Kabul airport, crowded with desperate Afghans wanting to escape.

Pakistan has not allowed Afghan refugees without documents, prompting a request from the United Nations refugee agency to open its borders for those fleeing Taliban rule.

Pakistan is home to 1.4 million legally registered Afghans, one of the oldest and largest displaced communities that entered Pakistan with the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Army Friday expressed hope to maintain cordial ties with a future Taliban government in Kabul.

“We do expect cordial relationship,” when the Taliban leadership forms government in Afghanistan, Pakistan military spokesperson Major General Babar Iftikhar told reporters.

He said there were “reasons for optimism.”

“We are hoping for the best. We have taken measures and Pakistan will reach out when government to government contact is established,” said Iftikhar.

He said the two countries had not established military ties as of now.

For years, the United States and the previous Afghan governments have accused Islamabad of supporting the Taliban and providing its leaders a haven.

Pakistan aided the Islamist militia in the 1990s and was one of only three countries that recognized the extremist regime along with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 2001.

Pakistan also played a critical role in negotiating with the United States for the Taliban to withdraw from Afghanistan.

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