Key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopens

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - A key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan that remained closed for three days following skirmishes has reopened, an official said on Thursday.

The Torkham border, which connects Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, was shut down on Monday after skirmishes between border security forces of the two countries.

"The border has reopened this morning for travelers and transport after remaining closed for three days," Abdullah Khan, a local Pakistani official at the border, told Anadolu.

The closure of the Torkham border, one of the two main crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, has caused heavy losses to already depreciating trade between the two neighbors, as Torkham is one of the busiest trade routes between Islamabad and Kabul.

The trade volume between landlocked Afghanistan and its southern neighbor has been mostly affected by terrorist attacks in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on Afghanistan-based militants, leading to the closure of border crossings.

On Tuesday, Zabihullah Mujahid, a chief spokesperson for the interim Afghan government, said they are investigating reports of Pakistani fighter jets violating Afghan airspace while patrolling.

His statement came after a clash between the security forces of two neighbors near the Torkham border and unconfirmed reports of Pakistani fighter jets patrolling the airspace of Nangarhar and neighboring Kunar province.

Islamabad accuses "Afghan-based" Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants of carrying out militant attacks inside Pakistan, while Kabul denies the allegation that such attacks are launched from its soil.

Sporadic clashes between troops at the Pakistan-Afghan border have been ongoing for a long time, with no respite even after the Taliban took power in the war-torn country in August 2021.

Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan share 18 border crossing points, the busiest of which are Torkham and southwestern Chaman in Balochistan province.

Afghanistan does not recognize the Durand Line -- the de facto border between the two countries -- on the grounds that it was created by a British colonial “to divide ethnic Pashtuns.”

However, Islamabad maintains that the Durand Line is a permanent border between the two neighboring countries.

The 2,640-kilometer-long (1,640-mile) border was established in 1893 in line with an agreement between India under British colonial rule and Abdur Rahman Khan, the then-ruler of Afghanistan.