The Wesh–Chaman border crossing is one of the major international

border crossing Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

s between

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Located on the Pak-Afghan border, it leads north from the town of

Chaman Chaman ( Balochi, Pashto and ur, ) is a city and recently claimed as a new district of Balochistan named Chaman District as it was earlier a part of district Qila Abdullah District located on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is the capital o ...

Chaman District Chaman District ( ps, چمن ولسوالی, bal, چمن, ur, ) is an administrative district of Balochistan Province, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

into

Wesh Wesh or WESH may refer to: *Wesh in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, Afghanistan *Wesh–Chaman border crossing one of the major international border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan *Darrell Wesh (1992), Haitian-American sprinter *Marlena ...

Spin Boldak District Spin Boldak is a district in the eastern part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Daman District to the west, Arghistan District to the north, Qila Abdullah District of Pakistan to the east and Shorabak District to the south. The popula ...

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

province. More generally, it links the two provincial capitals:

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

and

. At least 10 thousand peoples cross this border on the daily basis having businesses in

and return home in the evening. On 14 July 2021, the border crossing was captured by

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

forces as part of the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

. A brick, double-arched Friendship Gate, rising three stories tall, was erected in 2003. The gate facing towards Balochistan bears the words "Proud Pakistani" and "Pakistan First". Note: Photograph of gate by Alex Majoli on p. 1 of story; account of visit on p. 5. Its official hours run from morning to sunset, though smuggling may continue at night.

United States military presence

The Wesh-Chaman border crossing has been used by international forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan as part of a major supply route stretching from the

Port of Karachi The Port of Karachi ( ur, , ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Kar ...

to Kandahar, with roughly 60 to 100 trucks traversing Chaman daily. On January 18, 2010, ISAF commander General Stanley A. McChrystal visited the site after discussing the crossing's efficiency with Pakistani authorities. A US-run

Forward operating base A forward operating base (FOB) is any secured forward operational level military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support strategic goals and tactical objectives. A FOB may or may not contain an airfield, hospital, machine ...

(FOB) was located in Spin Boldak, which monitored the border crossing along with the

Afghan Border Police The Afghan Border Force (ABF) was responsible for security of Afghanistan's border area with neighboring countries extending up to into the interior and formed part of the Afghan National Army. In December 2017, most of the Afghan Border Police ...

and the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesh-Chaman border crossing Afghanistan–Pakistan border crossings Geography of Balochistan, Pakistan Chaman District