Pakistan on Saturday lodged a strong protest with Afghanistan summoning its Charge d' Affaires at the Foreign Office over torturing of 29 Pakistani workers by Afghan security forces. "The Government of Pakistan takes serious note of the incident involving 29 Pakistanis who were returning from Afghanistan and were badly beaten reportedly by Afghan forces despite having valid travel documents/passports," said Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan.

He said Afghan Charge d' Affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday and a strong protest was lodged, seeking an investigation into the incident and action against those responsible. He further said that Afghan government was also asked to take appropriate measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future.

According to the spokesman, a similar protest was lodged by the Ambassador of Pakistan in Kabul with the Afghan government. According to reports, 29 Pakistani labourers were tortured and beaten by the Afghan security forces at Pul Charkhi area of Afghanistan, which was followed by closure of the border in protest. The reports said that Afghan officials intercepted the labourers when they were heading towards Afghanistan for jobs and all were sent back to Torkham, Pak-Afghan border, tearing their travel documents apart.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2012