Azizullah Omar, the police chief of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, has denied reports claiming that Pakistani soldiers entered the strategic area in the Wakhan district of this province.

TOLOnews reported Wednesday morning that according to Omar, Afghan defense and security forces are stationed in the Wakhan Corridor, and so far, there has been no movement by Pakistani forces in the region.

The police chief emphasized that Afghan security forces will not allow any country to enter Afghanistan’s territory.  He stated: “The reports published in the media are not true.  We are in constant communication with our security forces. There is no problem, and no one has the capability to enter Wakhan. Our defense and security forces are fully prepared to counter any attack.”

TOLOnews says this comes as some Pakistani media outlets recently claimed that the country’s military had attacked the strategic Wakhan Corridor in Badakhshan and seized parts of the area.

Meanwhile, some residents of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan have called on the caretaker government to pay serious attention to protecting the country’s territory.

Abdul Saboor, a resident of Badakhshan, told TOLOnews: “Pakistan can never invade Wakhan.  Previous governments were involved in deals, but the Islamic Emirate will not allow it.”

Zalmai, another resident of Badakhshan, added: “Our demand from the Islamic Emirate is to strengthen and protect the borders.”

The Wakhan Corridor, a strategically significant region located in the Wakhan district of Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, stretches eastward, connecting Afghanistan to Xinjiang, China.  It also separates the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) of Tajikistan in the north from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan in the south.  This high mountain valley, which rises to a maximum altitude of 4,923 meters, serves as the source of both the Panj and Pamir rivers, which converge to form the larger Amu Darya River.  For countless centuries, a vital trade route has traversed this valley, facilitating the movement of travelers to and from East, South, and Central Asia.

The corridor was formed after an 1893 agreement between Mortimer Durand of the British Raj and Emir Abdur Rahman Khan of Afghanistan, creating the Durand Line.  This narrow strip acted as a buffer zone between the Russian Empire and the British Empire (the regions of Russian Turkestan, now in Tajikistan and the northern part of British Raj, now in Pakistan).