Torkham, a crucial border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, reopened at 8 a.m. on Friday after being closed for eight days.
The situation calmed down after tensions arose over the construction of a “illegal” check station by Afghan forces and Pakistani troops.
Vehicles stuck on either side of the border are being cleared for passage after border officials confirmed this to The Express Tribune. Passengers were also allowed to pass through the checkpoint only after undergoing a rigorous screening.
Border patrol agents claimed that strict security checks had been implemented before entrance was granted.
Last week, the Torkham border crossing, located at the western end of the legendary Khyber Pass, was closed, stranding thousands of visitors and hundreds of vehicles carrying commodities.
To quote Reuters: “It’s opened for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.” — Abdul Nasir Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Pakistan’s Khyber District.
The reopening was verified by officials and Foreign Office spokespeople in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar. This highway connects Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan, to Jalalabad, the largest city in the province of Nangarhar, and thence to Kabul.
According to Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, “the border closure was causing huge losses to traders and common people of the two neighbouring countries.”
Afghan refugee Mohammad Ismail and his wife and four children spent a week in a makeshift shelter in Peshawar, waiting for the border to open, and were among the dozens of families suffering the heat and humidity in an attempt to return home.
Ismail told a Reuters photographer, “They’re not letting us go back,” after pleading with officials to let him and his family cross the border and get medical help.
“All my children have fallen sick,” he continued. For the past three years, the displaced family has called Pakistan home. Dozens of other waiting families raised similar concerns about the excessively long wait times for document processing.
There were hundreds of vehicles lining the route, all of which were transporting perishable goods.
