JALALABAD - Thousands of people on Sunday staged a protest rally in eastern Nangarhar province against recent rocket shelling from across the border in Pakistan.
As many as 4,000 residents of the Lalpura district took part in the demonstration. The protestors, who blocked the Jalalabad-Torkham highway for few hours, chanted ‘death to Pakistan’ and torched a flag of the neighboring country.
Local officials claim Pakistani forces have been firing rockets into the Lalpura district over the past four days, forcing more than 2,000 families into fleeing homes. Four people have been wounded in the periodic shelling.
Malak Sayed Ahmad, one of the protest organizers and tribal elder, said Pakistani forces were firing rockets and arterially rounds into Parchao, Rini, Sinda Kani, Miyaji Baba and Shah-i-Bagh areas.
He said around 2,000 families had fled and eight people had been injured in the mentioned areas, asking the government to respond to the attacks.
Another protestor said if the government lacked the ability to protect the country’s soil it should allow the nation to respond.
Guljan, another protestor, criticized lawmakers from Nangarhar province over not raising the issue on the National Assembly’s floor.
The protestors urged the countrymen to carry out similar protests in order their voices were heard by the international community.
The Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani, the Afghan military was fully prepared to respond to the cross border shelling.
Khogyani said the army chief arrived in Nangarhar on a surprise visit and discussed the issue with members of the provincial council. The public representatives preferred a peaceful and diplomatic resolution, the gubernatorial spokesman said. (Pajhwok)