Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have reopened a key border crossing with Pakistan, allowing thousands of trucks carrying desperately needed food and other items to move for the first time in days, officials disclosed.
The jam at the Torkham crossing between the two nations began to ease after Islamabad sent a high-level delegation to Kabul to discuss a range of issues, including the Taliban’s closure of the border.
Taliban-appointed officials in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province confirmed the reopening of the Torkham border. The Afghan embassy in Pakistan also posted news of the reopening on Twitter.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a Director at the Pakistan-Afghanistan joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry confirmed that thousands of vehicles, some carrying fresh produce like vegetables and fruit, began moving along the Khyber Pass in northwest Pakistan on Thursday, February 23, 2023.
This latest development comes a day after Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif made an unannounced visit to Kabul, where he met with senior Taliban officials, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs.
The group discussed the closure of Torkham, which the Taliban said was shut because of immigration issues faced by sick Afghan people on the Pakistani side of the border, according to officials on both sides.
The Taliban government closed the Torkham border crossing because of Pakistan’s alleged refusal to allow Afghan immigrants and their caretakers to enter Pakistan for medical care without travel documents.
For Pakistan, the Torkham border crossing is a vital commercial artery and a trade route to Central Asian countries.
However, Pakistan has also accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary for Pakistani militants whose cross-border attacks have led to a spike in violence in this Islamic nation.
A statement issued by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s office on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 revealed that, the Afghan Taliban told the Pakistani delegation that “necessary facilities should be provided for all passengers” at Torkham and also at Spin Boldak.
Spin Boldak is another trade route located to the south, across from Chaman in Pakistan’s restive southwestern Baluchistan province.
Baradar, who is the Taliban-appointed Deputy Prime Minister for economic affairs made an assertion that special facilities should be provided for the transportation of patients needing emergency medical care.
According to the statement, the Pakistani side promised to resolve the matters quickly.
Relief For Traders
The reopening of Torkham was a relief for the traders and others on both sides who were stuck at the border for four days. It was also an indication of easing tensions between the two neighbors.
Since the closure of Torkham, more than 6,000 trucks with goods, including vegetables, fruit and other perishable food items, have been stuck on the Pakistani side of the border.
Closures, cross-border fire and shootouts are common along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Each side has in the past closed both Torkham and Chaman over various reasons.
According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the Pakistani delegation during Wednesday’s visit also discussed “the growing threat of terrorism in the region,” particularly by Pakistani Taliban who are known as Tahreek-e Taliban-Pakistan and Islamic State.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group, but allied with, the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power more than a year ago as the U.S. and NATO troops withdrew.
The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan bolstered TTP, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding in the country.
TTP in recent months has stepped up attacks in Pakistan, where security forces often carry out raids on their hideouts.
Like the rest of the world, Pakistan has so far not recognized Afghanistan’s Taliban government. The international community has been wary of the Taliban’s harsh measures, imposed since their takeover, especially in restricting the rights of women and minorities.
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