The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan opened Wednesday after being closed for almost a month, facilitating the resumption of trade between the two countries.

The border was closed on February 21 after the inauguration of “trench building and development work” along the border, as Pakistani forces had mentioned as the reason for stopping movement and trade.

Torkham acts as the primary transit point of goods and travelers between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2024, Bilateral Trade exceeded $ 1.6 billion, according to Pakistan’s foreign office.

Naheed Khan, a senior police officer in Pakistan’s Khyber -District, confirmed the reopening of the Torkham gate for transport, while the Afghan customs agent Hazrat Nabi Toor confirmed that trucks could cross the border again.

Hajji Hikmatullah, the Afghan Commissioner in Torkham, said the reopening would give trucks stuck on each side of the border to resume their travels. He added that passenger movement through the intersection would begin on Friday.

Hikmatullah called on both countries to create a “comprehensive strategy” to separate political issues from trade and encourage stronger economic ties.

Asghar Ali, a Pakistani customs agent, noted that hundreds of trucks carrying goods such as fruits and vegetables began to go towards the border immediately after the announcement of the reopening. He emphasized that the border ending had caused significant financial losses to businesses.

The closure had resulted in millions of dollars in losses for dealers, where the border was often closed due to clashes between Pakistani and Afghan forces in the past. Last month, tensions over the closure of Torkham led to a three -wound that hurt three Pakistani civilians.

The reopening comes in the midst of ongoing tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, largely because of an uptick in militant attacks in Pakistan’s western provinces near the Afghan border, as Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of having militants responsible for these cross-citizen attacks, although Afghan officials have refused the claims.