Pakistani, Afghan border tensions take toll on civiliansーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
As tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan mount, people living along the border between the two countries are expressing increasing concerns about their future. NHK World’s Nazar Islam reports. Nazmine and his family live in a village near the Pakistan border. That place was hit by a shell. My son was sleeping there. Nasm says his home was shelled by the Pakistani military in October. His 18-year-old son Dawud was killed. Dawoud studied hard hoping to become a doctor or engineer. Nasm worries the conflict may resume and he fears for his family’s safety. We are scared the shelling may start again. I demand that they stop shelling and bombing us. In the border area on the Pakistan side, local businesses are suffering. The closure on the outskirts of Pishaw has created a long line of trucks bringing logistics to a standstill. Our truck has been stuck here for almost a month. We aren’t getting any money while we sit idle. Aan fruits and vegetables once filled the markets, but now they are empty. The border closure has also sent produce prices soaring. Tomatoes have jumped from 20 cents a kilogram to over a dollar. Onions now cost eight times more than before. The conflict is hitting Afghan refugees in Pakistan hard. The Pakistani government has tightened residency rules and stepped up crackdowns on refugees under the pretext of counterterrorism measures. The refugee issue has a long history. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. After the 9/11 attacks, US-led forces carried out military operations in the country. As a result, more than 2.3 million Afghans are still in Pakistan. One refugee, Ruhulah, lives with his family in the outskirts of Bishaw. He fled to Pakistan 45 years ago. Now Islamabad has ordered him and his family to leave. There are no jobs, no schools, no place to live in Afghanistan. Nobody’s leaving by choice. We’re being forced to leave. A stream of trucks loaded with refugees belongings trundle toward the border with Afghanistan. Despite calls for a diplomatic solution between Kabul and Islamabadal, no resolution is in sight. People caught in the crisis continue to long for peace and stability. Natural Islam, NHQ World, Islamabad.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan remain high following deadly border clashes in October. Civilians on both sides continue to suffer hardship and dislocation.
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