PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan on Saturday expressed his concern over the clashes between Pakistan and Afghan border security forces and said that innocent Pal(htuns became victims in the clashes.

In a statement issued here, the ANP leader asked Islamabad and Kabul to refrain from raising tension on the Duran Line and resolve all issues through talks. The ANP leader expresseddeepshockandconcernovertheloss of precious lives in Chaman on Friday.

He said that the party appreciated efforts of Asghar Khan Achakzai for arranging a ceasefire between the security forces of the twocountries in Spin Boldak. The statement said that the party welcomed positive atmosphere created by the most recent visit of parliamentarians to Kabul.

It said that both the governments would build on this and would not allow the spoilers vitiate the atmosphere. The statement said that terrorists could benefit from mistrust and tension between the two countries. It said that people of the region had suffered a lot by the so-called `great and not so great games.

The statement said that it was time to jettison the Cold War era politics and start a fresh chapter of peaceful and brotherly bilateral relations because people of Pakistan and Afghanistan yearned for peace.

Meanwhile, Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao condemned the firing by Afghan border police targeting personnel of the Frontier Corps and the census team near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Chaman and described it as an unfortunate incident.The QWP chief said in a statement here on Saturday that the unprovoked firing would further complicate the bilateral issues and increase the level of bitterness which was not in theinterest of this region.

Expressing his sympathies with heirs of the deceased people, he said that the victims had done nothing wrong that they were targeted from across the border. He said that Pakistan had initiated a commendable step by sending a high-level delegation to Afghanistan with the hope to play role in normalisation of the tense situation, but the attack on Chaman would have a very negative impact.

Mr Sherpao stressed the need for taking effective steps by both the countries to ensure peace in the region. He said that Pakistan had already taken the initiative to have cordial relations with Afghanistan.

He said that it was duty of the Afghan government to take serious notice of the incident and discourage all those creating hurdles to restoration ofpeacein the region.