# Pakistan installs first biometrics system at border crossing with Afghanistan



## GAP (10 Jan 2007)

Pakistan has finally listened and has now Corrected the Border Problem !! Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy now?

Pakistan installs first biometrics system at border crossing with Afghanistan  
The Associated Press Wednesday, January 10, 2007 CHAMAN, Pakistan 
Article Link

Pakistan on Wednesday opened its first biometrics system to screen travelers at a land border point with Afghanistan as a measure to curtail cross-border movement of militants, an official said.

The sophisticated identification system was inaugurated at the main border crossing between southern Afghanistan and Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province, near the Pakistani town of Chaman, said Brig. Akhtar Hussain Shah, an official with the government National Data and Registration Authority that issues identity cards to Pakistani nationals.

After it was inaugurated, some 40 people were screened through the system that records a person's fingerprints, retinas or facial patterns, for identification, Shah said.

Pakistani authorities will issue biometrics compatible "border passes" to residents of Chaman and the surrounding Qila Abdullah district, to help them travel to Afghanistan after being identified through the system, he said.

Shah said the new measure at the border crossing near Chaman was an effort in the fight against terrorism. "This is a step that we have taken to stop terrorism and to stop any illegal movement," he said.

Ethnic Pashtun tribesmen in Pakistan and Afghanistan, living close to the Pakistan-Afghan border, are allowed to travel across the frontier without passports but with special identity permits under an arrangement between the two countries to help members of the divided tribes visit each other.

The Afghan-Pakistan border runs through rugged mountains, deserts and is not clearly demarcated at places where it splits tribespeople.

In recent months, Pakistan has faced repeated accusations by Afghan officials that leaders of the Taliban militia are present in or near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, and orchestrate attacks inside Afghanistan.
More on link


----------



## gnome123 (10 Jan 2007)

My perception of it all the Pakistan government is full aware of the Taliban's presence in their country but fail / refuse to do anything about it. This is due to the major trade of drugs they obtain through the borders which funds the Pakistan. Britain failed to do it 80 some years ago and so did the Russians. Best of luck though.


----------



## GAP (10 Jan 2007)

Pakistan to complete border fencing with Afghanistan by July   
Article Link

Islamabad, Jan 10: After introducing sophisticated biometric system to regulate the movement of people at Chaman Border Point with Afghanistan, Pakistan said it will complete fencing in parts of its border with Afghanistan by July 2007 to prevent cross border infiltration of Taliban militants. 

The biometric system that regulate the entry and exit points was inaugurated at Chaman border yesterday by Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. 

Without commenting on objections from Afghanistan and the United Nations, Sherpao said that the fencing of the Pak-Afghan border would be completed by July this year, TV networks reported here today. 

Talking to newsmen at a ceremony, he said the fencing of the border and the installation of a biometric system on the entry and exit points in the Chaman area had been completed, while the same would be done in the remaining three areas of Balochistan. 

To a question, he said it was true that Afghanistan and the UN have raised objections to the fencing of the border, but it was vital to stop incidents of terrorism. 

Bureau Report 
End


----------

