Pak-Afghan authorities reopen Torkham border crossing after nine days

Govt officials says clearance of trucks is underway

PESHWAR (Dunya News/Reuters/AFP) - The Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened on Friday for all kinds of traffic after nine days of closure.

The border that is used extensively by people from both sides for trade activities, was closed after 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 Mohmand, assistant commissioner of Khyber district in Pakistan, told AFP. 

"A series of talks between Pakistani and Afghan officials resolved the issue and the border was opened," a security official in Torkham said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

He said thousands of loaded vehicles had been stuck on both sides of the border due at crossing point in northwestern Pakistan.

Pakistan said the Taliban administration had tried to encroach on its territory with the construction of an "unlawful structure" and accused Afghan forces of "indiscriminate firing".

The Taliban foreign ministry said Pakistan security forces had fired on its troops as they fixed an old security outpost near the border. They criticised the border closing at a key entry point for landlocked Afghanistan.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue Relations between the two neighbours has been tense at times, particularly over border disputes and Pakistan's charges that militants can launch attacks into its territory from bases in Afghanistan. Afghan authorities deny this.

Also Read: Pakistan says Afghan Taliban building unlawful structure in border dispute

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

In the meeting, the Afghan authorities assured Pakistan that Afghan soil won't be used against Pakistan.

Closure on September 6

Pakistan's main border crossing with Afghanistan was closed on September 6, leading to a build-up of trucks laden with goods, after clashes between security forces from the two countries.

According to Reuters, the busy border crossing was closed after Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces started firing at each other, according to local officials.

Abdul Basir Zabuli, a spokesman for the Taliban-led police in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, where the crossing lies, said that authorities from both countries were trying to determine the reason for the clash.

The Torkham border point is the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said hundreds of trucks laden with fruit, vegetables and other goods were stuck due to the closure.

"The traders are suffering heavy losses after the border in Torkham was closed on Wednesday following a firing incident there," he told Reuters.

The entire flow of trade had been affected and loading of goods in the southern port of Karachi had been disrupted.

Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (1,615 mile) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades.

In a separate incident, Pakistan's military said four soldiers had been killed in clashes in Chitral district, near the Afghan border, on Wednesday and that 12 militants had died.

The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), said in a statement its fighters had fought against security forces in the area for the past two days.

The Pakistani military echoed its demands of Afghan Taliban authorities to stop the use of its territory for militant attacks after the clashes in Chitral, a mountainous area near the Afghan border popular with Pakistani and foreign tourists.

The Afghan Taliban have denied their territory is being used by militants, saying security concerns within its neighbour are an internal issue for Pakistani authorities.

Attacks claimed by the TTP have grown in Pakistan in recent years. The group has pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban but is not directly a part of it.