Angur Ada (, literally: "Grape Base" in

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

) is a town in the Barmal Valley, straddling the border between the

South Waziristan South Mahsud Waziristan District () was a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Dera Ismail Khan Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, before splitting into the Lower South Waziristan District and the Upper South Waziristan D ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Paktika Province Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but sma ...

(

Barmal District Barmal District (, ) is a district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It shares a border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistan. The Angur Ada is the official border checkpoint and border crossing between the people of Paktika and K ...

). It is one of the few easy passages across this mountainous border, and one of two between Paktika and Waziristan, the other passage being the

Gomal River The Gomal (, ) is a river in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It rises in northern Afghanistan's Paktika Province and joins the Indus River 20 miles south of Dera Ismail Khan, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Gomal University in Dera Ismail ...

. The Afghan village Shkin lies just to the west of Angur Ada. The actual authoritative

Durand Line The Durand Line (; ; ), also known as the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, is a international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to the border with China. The D ...

, first demarcated in 1895, slices through the east side of the main bazaar area, placing most of the built up area legally in Afghanistan. However, the military forces and gates enforcing border control are several hundred meters west of the boundary and thus west of the main bazaar area, placing nearly all of the village's built-up area under the control of forces in Pakistan. The population in the area is

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

, predominantly from the Wazir and

Kharoti The Kharoti (Pashto:خروٹی) خروټی) are a Pashtun tribe of Ghilji origin, originating in the central part of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, but can be also found in other parts of the country. The Kharoti settled in Kharotabad in Quett ...

tribes. In 2003 it was reported that eight people had been gunned down in Angur Ada, suspected of being US informants.

Angur Ada in the War on Terror

In 2003 the hunt for

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

was said by U.S. officials to be narrowed to a section of South Waziristan, namely the area covering the towns Angur Ada and Wana.

The 2008 Angur Ada raid

On September 3, 2008, a raid was conducted by a US military force on Angur Ada in which 20 civilians, including at least 3 women and 4 children, were killed. This is not the first time Afghan based US troops cross the Afghan-Pakistani border in pursuit of enemy fighters, but was the first to be widely reported.

Pakistan hands over border crossing to Afghan forces

Pakistan on May 21, 2016, handed over a purpose-build border crossing facility at Angoor Ada to Afghan authorities. “With aim to strengthen brotherly relations with Afghanistan besides strategic intent to improve border management, the border-crossing facility was handed over to Afghan authorities at Angoor Ada, a buffering town,” the director general of

Inter-Services Public Relations The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) () is the media and public relations wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's Media of Pakistan, civilian media and the Pakistani ...

(ISPR), Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa, tweeted. However, on June 12, 2016, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs

Sartaj Aziz Sartaj Aziz (; 7 February 1929 – 2 January 2024) was a Pakistani economist and strategist, who had previously served as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, member of the federal cabinet as the ''de facto'' Minister fo ...

said that the check post was not given to the Afghan authorities but it was an old check post which had been constructed during

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

era when the border control was not that stringent and the check post was on Pakistani soil while the gate was in Afghan territory, Afghan authorities were protesting for years, so

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

handed over the gate to them. On June 7, a petition was filed in the

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is a provincial court house based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over the province of Punjab. The High Court's principal seat is ...

(LHC) against the handing over of Pakistani border post to Afghan Authorities stating that such an act is punishable under Section 24 of the

Pakistan Army Act Pakistan Army Act, 1952 is an act, passed by the Parliament of Pakistan in 1952. It is the primary statute governing the affairs of Pakistan Army. History Established in 1952, the Pakistan Army Act regulates the legal code within the military, m ...

(PAA) 1952.

References

{{Paktika Province Populated places in South Waziristan Populated places in Paktika Province Waziristan Afghanistan–Pakistan border crossings

Angur Ada in the War on Terror

The 2008 Angur Ada raid

Pakistan hands over border crossing to Afghan forces

See also

References