Islamabad, March 02: Iran is building a concrete wall
along its frontier with Pakistan to stop "illegal border
crossings", officials said.
"Iran has started building a concrete wall along its
border with Pakistan, from Taftan to Mand, to stop illegal
border crossings," Pakistani officials said in Quetta, the
capital of Balochistan, a province which shares long borders
with Iran.
The wall will be built from near the border town of
Taftan, about 700 km west of Quetta. "The Iranian authorities
started work on the wall about a month ago," Barkat Ali Khan,
a Pakistani border town administration official, was quoted by
local daily 'Dawn' today as saying.
"The concrete wall will be 10 feet high and 3 feet wide,"
he said, adding that hundreds of workers could be seen
building the wall.
He said the Iranian authorities appeared to be in a hurry
to complete the project. "I think they want to seal the border
with Pakistan to stop illegal crossings from both sides and
check drug smuggling," Barkat said. The wall would be up to
the Mand area in the Turbat district of Balochistan.
Pakistan shares borders with India, Iran and Afghanistan.
India has already fenced its international borders with
Pakistan and much of the line of control to stop cross-border
infiltration. Pakistan itself proposes to fence some parts of
the controversial Durand Line which formed borders with
Afghanistan despite protests from Kabul, in what it says a
measure to prevent crossings by the Taliban.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, March 02, 2007, 00:00