(7 May 2013)
1. Various of Afghan Interior Minister, Major General Ghulam Mushtaba Patang, reviewing Afghan security forces in Naray district of Kunar province bordering Pakistan
2. Various of Patang listening to local elders
3. Mid of local elders
4. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Major General Ghulam Mushtaba Patang, Afghan Interior Minister:
"We are planning tomorrow, Wednesday, to hold a tripartite meeting at military level of those who are present at the border areas between the two countries to reach an agreement, which will be satisfactory for the both sides."
5. Mid tilt up Afghan security forces
6. SOUNDBITE (Dari) Major General Ghulam Mushtaba Patang, Afghan Interior Minister:
"We will keep trying in diplomatic ways again to resolve this issue, but if it doesn't then the last option left for us will be to use all our resources to cover our borders."
7. Various aerial views of Kunar province seen from helicopter
STORYLINE:
Afghanistan's Interior Minister, Major General Mushtaba Patang, on Tuesday visited Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan, and met Afghan security forces at the main base in Naray.
During the visit, Patang also spoke with local leaders about their security concerns.
The trip came amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan over a spate of shootouts near the border.
Pakistan warned Afghanistan on that it would not be responsible for the consequences if the border spat escalated further, even as hundreds of Afghans rallied in a southern city to protest the latest incidents along their country's frontier.
The Pakistani warning came one day after Afghanistan lodged a similar protest with Islamabad, blaming its neighbour for the border firing incidents.
Afghanistan had claimed on Monday that its forces were fired on in the Goshta district of Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, the same place where a firefight between Afghan and Pakistani forces left an Afghan border policeman dead and two Pakistani soldiers wounded last week.
Relations between the two neighbours have been severely strained in recent months, and the mountainous region in eastern Afghanistan where the shootings occurred has seen acrimonious exchanges between the two sides over the demarcation of their border.
Patang on Tuesday said every effort would be made to resolve the issued diplomatically.
"But if it doesn't then the last option left for us will be to use all our resources to cover our borders," Patang added.
Although Afghanistan's national security forces have swelled to nearly 352-thousand in recent years, their size is tiny compared to a Pakistani military that is one of the 10 biggest in the world.
Insurgencies in both nations have also contributed to deteriorating relations.
Both countries have accused each other of providing shelter for militants fighting on the other side of the border, and Afghan officials have claimed Pakistan has tried to torpedo peace talks with the Taliban.
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