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Locals face challenges; ask Kabul to take the issue with Dushanbe
AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: Tajikistan has closed her border for Badakhshan residents living near the border. This came after insecurity increased in northern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.
The residents living in Darwaz, Ishkashim and Maimay districts of Badakhshan province, which are sharing borders with Tajikistan and the residents had limitless cross-bordering with Tajikistan. Now the border has been sealed due to increasing insecurity in Badakhshan. The residents were crossing the border freely for shopping in Tajikistan.
Residents of Badakhshan asked the Afghan government to address the issue because the dwellers were facing several problems after the decision of Dushanbe.
Ahmadullah a resident of Maimay district said that insecurity increased in many parts of Badakhshan, but that affected mostly the people living near the border with Tajikistan. He said they are facing many problems after closure of the border.
According to the residents of Badakhshan they cross the border to shop quicker while saving time. The provincial capital Faizabad can take nearly 18 hours to travel.
Meanwhile, the chief of Maimay district Dawlat Mohammad said that Tajikistan has also imposed ban on issuance of visa to the Afghans who live along with the border. He further said that Tajikistan had also increased prices of commodities for residents of Badakhshan to discourage them from entering into the country for shopping.
Military analysts from Tajikistan said that following the increasing insecurity in northern Afghanistan. Tajikistan has closed the borders in a bid to prevent insurgents from making inroads in Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries.
Ismail Rahmatzada, a security affairs expert from Tajikistan, said that escalation in insecurity across the border had forced Tajik officials to seal the border with Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province.
