The Torkham border crossing reopened on Saturday for pedestrians after a month and thousands on both sides were in queues to cross the gate, officials said.
The Torkham border crossing reopened on Wednesday after 27 days following much-awaited parleys between jirga members of Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to a jirga leader from the Pakistani side.
The cross-border movement of people via the Torkham border crossing was abruptly suspended on February 21 after Pakistani and Afghan security forces developed differences over construction activities on both sides of the border.
The situation worsened this month when eight people, including six troops, were injured as Pakistan and Afghan Taliban forces traded fire at the border.
Afghan officials said thousands of passengers are stranded on both sides of the Torkham border due to the closure, which has caused a lot of congestion there.
The head of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province information department asked the people to wait for at least two days so that they did not face any inconvenience due to the heavy traffic. He said the congestion would decrease in the next two or three days.
Pakistani journalist Jawad Shinwari said, “A similar situation was also witnessed on the Pakistani side as those stuck rushed to the border to cross.”
The developments come at a time when Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq met with Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi on Saturday.
Sadiq, leading a delegation, arrived in Kabul on Friday evening for talks on bilateral issues focused on Pakistan’s security concerns over the growing violence in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Pakistani officials said on Saturday that only those Afghan nationals who possessed valid visas and passports would be allowed to enter the country.
However, serious patients would cross the border in line with the old procedure.
A Khyber district resident, who works at a currency exchange shop at Torkham, told Dawn.com that the gate was reopened at 8am in the morning and there were many people on both sides.
“Pakistan is allowing only those who have passports and visas. Those who have Tazkira [ID cards] are not being allowed,” the man said. He requested not to be identified by name.
Pakistan would also previously allow Afghan Tazkira holders to cross the border crossing from its side.
