Pakistan to keep border crossing with Afghanistan shut till apology

Islamabad, Aug 26 (IANS) Pakistan said on Friday it will keep its border crossing closed with Afghanistan and won't open the border until Afghanistan apologises for burning a Pakistani flag a week ago, a charge the Afghans deny.

The Chaman pass will remain closed until Afghan border authorities apologise officially in writing for burning a flag during protests a week ago, Efe news quoted a border guard official in Balochistan as saying.

"We have held five meetings of frontier posts commanders from both the sides, but have not reached an agreement," the official added.

On August 18, a group of Afghan demonstrators staged a protest at the border crossing, and during which they threw stones at installations across the border and burned a Pakistani flag.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, accuses Pakistanis of burning photographs of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

The border closure has blocked transport of goods transport in the area, which, along with the Khyber Pass, forms one of the major supply routes of Afghanistan's allied forces.