Pakistan border guards used tear gas Thursday to disperse hundreds of people who tried to storm a border crossing with Afghanistan, a day after the Taliban seized control of the Afghan side of the frontier, officials said.
“This morning a mob of some 400 unruly commuters tried to cross the gate forcefully. They threw stones, which forced us to use tear gas,” said a security official at the southwest Chaman border, who asked not to be named.
Jumadad Khan, a senior government official in Chaman, said the situation was now “under control”.
“We had to baton charge because people were getting unruly,” said a second border official, who also did not want to be named.
On Thursday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met regional leaders for talks in Uzbekistan amid deteriorating security in the country. There are fears of a new Afghan refugee crisis after Pakistan ruled out taking any more people.
According to the UN refugee agency, several million Afghans have been displaced within their country over years of war.
