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
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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.
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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
