Pakistan reopens key border crossing with Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AA) – Pakistan reopened a key border crossing with neighboring Afghanistan to all types of traffic on Saturday.

The Torkham border, which connects Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, was shut down unilaterally by the interim Taliban administration last week. The closure followed an exchange of fire between the two border forces on Monday.

The Afghan administration announced reopening it on Thursday, but Pakistani authorities refused to reopen the border, a local official at the border shared.

“Last evening, we temporarily opened the border for Pakistanis who were stuck on the Afghan side,” the official said, declining to be identified because he was not authorized to speak with the media.

“Finally, we fully reopened the border for trade, transit, and pedestrian movement from both sides this morning,” he added.

The latest development came three days after Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif met with Afghanistan’s acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and acting Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob in Kabul on Wednesday.

Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share 18 crossing points, with the busiest ones being the Torkham and Chaman, which connects Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province with Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province.

Last December, at least six Pakistani civilians were killed in an exchange of heavy fire along the Chaman border.

Thousands of Afghans daily cross into Pakistan for medical and labor purposes.