ISLAMABAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan government on Friday shut down its consulate in the Pakistani city of Peshawar over the removal of the Afghan national flag by Pakistani authorities from a marketplace, which the Afghan embassy said belongs to Afghanistan.

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad said the police in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, raided the Afghan market Thursday night and removed the flag.

The controversy over the ownership of the market started after Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled on its ownership in favor of a Pakistani national while the Afghan embassy said the market is the property of Afghanistan since long.

As the Pakistani apex court delivered the verdict, the Pakistani authorities started demolishing shops at the market and removed the Afghan national flag.

Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal visited Peshawar on Monday and hoisted the flag.

But the Afghan embassy said on Friday that the Pakistani authorities again removed the Afghan national flag from the market.

A statement from the Afghan embassy said that the embassy shut down the Afghan consulate as a protest.

"We consider the Pakistani police action as violation of the diplomatic norms and good neighborhood," the statement said.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said that the case for legal possession of the Afghan market was between a private Pakistani claimant and Afghanistan's national bank.

"The Supreme Court has decided in favor of the private claimant. It is a purely legal matter and action has been taken following court's order," the spokesman told a weekly briefing on Thursday. Enditem

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