Flag meeting: Dispute over border towns to be talked out after Eid

Pak, Afghan officials agree to reach consensus over Killi Luqman, Killi Jahangir villages

QUETTA: Military officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday agreed to continue negotiations to resolve the dispute involving the Pakistani border towns of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir.

In a flag meeting at the Afghan border town of Vesh Mandi in Spin Boldak district, military officials from the two sides discussed the two border villages and erecting barbed wire around them.



“The two sides agreed to find a solution to the two border villages of Pakistan,” sources said, adding that negotiations would continue. “A flag meeting is expected after Ramadan in which the issue regarding the border villages would be resolved,” said the sources.

Commander North Bridger Nadeem Sohail and Col Usman of the Frontier Corps led Pakistan in the meeting that continued for more than three hours. While Col Muhammad Sharif and Col Muhammad Anwar represented Afghanistan.

Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir villages of Chaman, which straddle the border, have been a source of controversy between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kabul claims the villages are part of the war-torn country’s Spin Boldak district – an assertion Pakistan flatly denies.



During the flat meeting, the Afghan side raised objection to erecting barbed wires around the two border villages, said the sources. However, the Pakistani officials informed the meeting that the issue could be resolved at the government level, they added.

Pakistan border authorities hosted an iftar party in the honour of the Afghan border officials at the Friendship Gate. The Pakistani military officials presented flowers and sweets to the Afghan officials who attended the meeting.