Torkham border crossing reopens

PESHAWAR: The Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan Friday reopened for all kinds of traffic after 10 days of closure due to clashes between border forces.

Pedestrian movement has begun following the resumption of traffic at the border with hundreds of travellers flocking to its immigration section for entry into Afghanistan.

“The clearance of trucks is in process and Afghan citizens are entering Afghanistan after clearance and passing immigration processes,” Irshad Khan Mohmamd, assistant commissioner of Khyber district in Pakistan, told AFP.

According to officials “thousands of cargo cars” have been stuck on both sides of the border for nine days. They added that the border will also be opened for foot traffic.

The decision came after Acting Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met the Head of the Pakistan Mission in Kabul, Ubaid Ur Rehman Nizamani.

Taliban request Pakistan to open Torkham border

In the meeting, the Afghan authorities assured Pakistan that Afghan soil would not be used against Pakistan.

Sources, privy to the decision, said the decision to reopen the border came after this meeting.

The Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was closed following a clash between the security forces of the two countries, which left a Frontier Corps soldier injured.

This dispute arose over the construction of a bunker by the interim Afghanistan government on the Afghan side, specifically on a hilltop near the border.