“If things go well, other activities will gradually be restored,” the government spokesman said
A sign with a cross showing the pedestrian street is seen at the central border crossing as trucks carrying goods destined for Afghanistan queue up after clashes between Pakistani and Afghan security forces in Torkham. PHOTO: ANADOLU
Authorities on Tuesday reopened a key border crossing with Afghanistan for the repatriation of stranded Afghan nationals after more than a month of border clashes between the two neighbors, which ended in a ceasefire ahead of Eidul Fitr early this month, a government official said. Anatolia.
The Torkham border, which links Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, was reopened a day after a “flag meeting” between the two sides, a provincial government spokesman said.
The border – one of the two main crossings between the two countries – was closed in late February following intense border clashes and a breakdown in bilateral ties, causing significant disruption to trade and movement.
“At this point is [border] Reopening is limited only to the repatriation of Afghan nationals who have been detained for illegal stay in Pakistan, the spokesman said, declining to be named.
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“If things go well, then other activities, including trade and public movement, will gradually be restored,” he said.
Pakistan launched a nationwide campaign against illegal Afghan immigrants in 2023, arresting and repatriating thousands.
The latest round of border clashes began in late February, following a series of deadly attacks across Pakistan by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorists, whom Islamabad accused Afghanistan of sheltering and failing to act against. Kabul denies the accusations.
It followed airstrikes by the Pakistani military targeting alleged TTP hideouts in Afghanistan.
According to Kabul, the airstrikes killed dozens of civilians, while Islamabad claimed that over 500 TTP militants were killed in the attacks.
The two sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eidul Fitr on March 18 following requests from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Separately, a grand meeting between elders from Pakistan and Afghanistan opened in Peshawar today.
Participants called for renewed dialogue between the two neighbors after weeks of escalating cross-border violence.
Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share 18 border crossing points, the busiest of which are Torkham and southwestern Chaman in Balochistan province.
