Pak Opens Major Border Crossings for Afghans to Take Part in Polls

Islamabad, Sep 28 (PTI) Pakistan opened all major border crossing terminals on Saturday for the Afghan citizens to allow them to cast their vote in the key presidential elections in the war-torn country.

Afghans voted in the presidential elections amid tight security, as Taliban insurgents unleashed a string of attacks on polling centres across the country that killed at least five people.

The poll is considered a two-horse race between current President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, the country's chief executive.

Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said that the country received a request from the Afghan Ministry of Defence on very short notice for border facilitation and opening of border crossings.

"Therefore, 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," the FO said.

It also said that in spite of security issues along the border, Pakistan would continue to support the Afghans.

Earlier two days ago, Pakistan had said it will close "all passage ways / Cargo terminals (except for emergency patients) on 27-28 September."

Pakistan had also decided to implement "strict security check of all pedestrians and trading vehicles from September 26-29."

The steps were taken to stop any miscreants moving across the border to disrupt the process of elections, the FO said.

Pakistan congratulated the people and government of Afghanistan on successful holding of the elections.

The Foreign Office said that the people of Afghanistan particularly deserved appreciation for their clear decision to continue with the democratic course despite serious hurdles and challenges.

“We sincerely hope that the new government elected through a free, fair and transparent voting process will enjoy the full mandate to take the stalled peace process forward. This is important for ending the 18 year old conflict through an inclusive, Afghan-led and Afghan-owned negotiated political settlement,” it said.

It said that Pakistan will continue to facilitate the new Afghan government towards this end as "Pakistan wants to see a strong, independent, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan as key to regional peace and stability."

"Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoy a broad and deep relationship and both countries need to work in close coordination for mutual benefits of their two peoples," it said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)