Torkham border crossing closed for third day

Published September 9, 2023
The customs terminal at Torkham border gives a deserted look on Friday due to closure of the border. — Dawn
The customs terminal at Torkham border gives a deserted look on Friday due to closure of the border. — Dawn

KHYBER: With no headway in negotiations between Kabul and Islamabad over the issue of a security checkpost on the Afghan side of the border, the Torkham border crossing remained closed for commercial activities and pedestrian movement for the third day on Friday.

Local sources told Dawn that any understanding regarding border reopening hadn’t been reached due to the “hard stance” of the Afghan Taliban’s government in Kabul.

They said that Afghan security officials were uncompromising and didn’t show any flexibility during the ongoing parleys insisting on the establishment of a border check post on their side of the border.

Irshad Ali Momand, a district administration official, told Dawn that things had come to a standstill as the status quo prevailed on the third consecutive day.

When asked about the permission to take the bodies of two Afghans, a woman and a child, he ruled out the possibility of giving any “preferential treatment” to anyone dead or alive until a mutual agreement was reached between Islamabad and Kabul.

Meanwhile, scores of stranded Afghan with women and children among them waited desperately in Landi Kotal on Friday for reopening of the border.

Most stranded men had taken temporary shelter in the main Landi Kotal Bazaar’s mosque with local traders and shopkeepers arranging edibles for them.

Also in the day, a group of civil society activists arranged a peace march in Landi Kotal and demanded authorities of both countries to show the maximum flexibility in the immediate reopening of the border in order to mitigate the sufferings of innocent Afghans.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

The challenge before banks
Updated 27 Feb, 2025

The challenge before banks

The way we do banking today will not exist in next 10 years, only those will survive who are capable of adopting new technologies.
Torkham tension
27 Feb, 2025

Torkham tension

CONTROVERSY over demarcation of the common frontier is one of the key obstacles standing in the way of better...
Weak link
27 Feb, 2025

Weak link

KARACHI — economic powerhouse, cultural melting pot, and bustling metropolis of over 20m souls. There is much that...
Forgotten inmates
Updated 26 Feb, 2025

Forgotten inmates

Diversion programmes are needed for minor offences and people with psychosocial disabilities should receive treatment rather than be jailed.
Controlling crypto
26 Feb, 2025

Controlling crypto

THOUGH Pakistan’s official position on cryptocurrencies has evolved considerably over the years, there still seems...
Deadly roads
26 Feb, 2025

Deadly roads

DRIVING in Karachi can be hazardous, with chaos on the roads, and very little by way of following rules and...