Pak-Afghan tensions: Normalcy returns to Torkham as border reopens
Only passport holders allowed from Afghan side: FO
People from Afghanistan enter Pakistan through the Torkham border which reopened on Saturday. PHOTO: INP
KHYBER AGENCY/ISLAMABAD/TORKHAM:
The busiest border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened Saturday morning after it was closed for six days following deadly skirmishes between the border guards of the two neighbouring countries.
The fighting erupted along the Torkham border on June 12 after Afghan security forces disrupted the construction of a gate well within the Pakistani territory. At least three Afghan policemen and a Pakistani military officer were killed and dozens others, mostly civilians, were wounded in clashes that continued sporadically since Monday.
On the frontline: FC personnel awarded for performance at Torkham
“The Torkham border reopened around 6 this morning after around six days of closure,” Muhammad Ayub Hussain Khil, border police chief in eastern Afghanistan, told AFP. “Every day huge crowds of Afghans used to cross the border for medical purposes, but now they are only allowing people with visas and passports,” he added.
The spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, Ataullah Khogyani, confirmed the reopening of the border saying it happened after ‘days of negotiations’ between the two sides.
A Pakistani official, who wished not to be named, told AFP that the border had reopened and “the construction work on the gate has also resumed.” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman posted a message on Twitter saying: “Only passport holders allowed from Afghan side.”
At the Torkham border, armed border guards from both sides of the border shook hands and offered prayers for peace and tranquility along the border at a brief ceremony before the formal reopening of the border.
The border guards mutually agreed to let stranded patients and their attendants to cross the border first. They were followed by women and children, while able-bodied men were allowed to cross the border in the end. Thousands of stranded travellers, mostly from the Afghan side, crossed the border within a couple of hours.
Later, Pakistani and Afghan authorities resumed the clearance process for trucks and trailers stranded on their respective sides of the border. A long queue of vehicles loaded with trade goods could be seen on the Pak-Afghan Highway, right from the Parangsam checkpoint in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency up to Torkham. Authorities say the clearance process would take a couple of days.
Afghanistan declines invite to send its NSA, FM to Pakistan
The travellers were allowed after strict scrutiny and only those possessing valid travel documents were allowed into the Pakistani side of the border where the offices of FIA, Immigration, Customs and Trade have reopened.
Curfew was lifted in the town of Torkham where normalcy returned as hundreds of Shinwari tribesmen who had fled the clashes to seek shelter with their relatives in nearby Landikotal town started returning to their abandoned homes.
Stranded people were happy with the reopening of the border after a six-day hiatus. A young man from the Afghan province of Paktia, said he was a student at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. “Pakistan and Afghanistan should cease hostilities and address mutual misunderstandings through talks in order to facilitate their peoples,” Obaidullah told The Express Tribune as he crossed into Pakistan.
Haji Khanuddin, a Shinwari tribesman who owns a restaurant in the border town, said his tribe had been straddling the border for centuries, and no one could separate them. “I request both Islamabad and Kabul to handle the border affairs through mutual understanding and avoid fighting in the greater interests of their peoples,” he said.
Haji Hanzallah, the owner of a taxi stand in Torkham, welcomed the reopening of the border. “The border clashes badly affected the local economy,” he said. “Around 5,500 cabs and 1,500 vans, called ‘Flying Coach’ in local parlance, remained parked in the stand for six days and their drivers and cleaners could not earn a living for their families.”
The border clashes prompted bitter recriminations on both sides, with Islamabad and Kabul summoning each other’s diplomats to lodge strong formal complaints. The Pakistani military justified the construction of the gate at Torkham, saying ‘terrorists’ were using the crossing point. Pakistan accuse some elements in the Afghan government of harbouring outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s fugitive chief Mullah Fazlullah who is said to be orchestrating attacks on Pakistani soil from Afghanistan.
Afghan officials also accuse Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and continuing to nurture sanctuaries on its soil in the hope of maintaining influence in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree on ceasefire at Torkham border
Hours after the border was opened the Foreign Office issued a statement saying an Afghan delegation will visit Islamabad to ease the tension in Torkham.
In response to an invitation by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz to Afghan National Security Adviser and Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan, an Afghan delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, will visit Islamabad on June 20 for discussions on the issues relating to Torkham border crossing as well as other matters pertaining to border management, according to the statement.
“Pakistan welcomes the visit and looks forward to meaningful deliberations through a constructive engagement between the two sides with a view to promoting bilateral relations as well as peace and stability of our two countries and the region.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2016.
The busiest border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened Saturday morning after it was closed for six days following deadly skirmishes between the border guards of the two neighbouring countries.
The fighting erupted along the Torkham border on June 12 after Afghan security forces disrupted the construction of a gate well within the Pakistani territory. At least three Afghan policemen and a Pakistani military officer were killed and dozens others, mostly civilians, were wounded in clashes that continued sporadically since Monday.
On the frontline: FC personnel awarded for performance at Torkham
“The Torkham border reopened around 6 this morning after around six days of closure,” Muhammad Ayub Hussain Khil, border police chief in eastern Afghanistan, told AFP. “Every day huge crowds of Afghans used to cross the border for medical purposes, but now they are only allowing people with visas and passports,” he added.
The spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, Ataullah Khogyani, confirmed the reopening of the border saying it happened after ‘days of negotiations’ between the two sides.
A Pakistani official, who wished not to be named, told AFP that the border had reopened and “the construction work on the gate has also resumed.” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman posted a message on Twitter saying: “Only passport holders allowed from Afghan side.”
At the Torkham border, armed border guards from both sides of the border shook hands and offered prayers for peace and tranquility along the border at a brief ceremony before the formal reopening of the border.
The border guards mutually agreed to let stranded patients and their attendants to cross the border first. They were followed by women and children, while able-bodied men were allowed to cross the border in the end. Thousands of stranded travellers, mostly from the Afghan side, crossed the border within a couple of hours.
Later, Pakistani and Afghan authorities resumed the clearance process for trucks and trailers stranded on their respective sides of the border. A long queue of vehicles loaded with trade goods could be seen on the Pak-Afghan Highway, right from the Parangsam checkpoint in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency up to Torkham. Authorities say the clearance process would take a couple of days.
Afghanistan declines invite to send its NSA, FM to Pakistan
The travellers were allowed after strict scrutiny and only those possessing valid travel documents were allowed into the Pakistani side of the border where the offices of FIA, Immigration, Customs and Trade have reopened.
Curfew was lifted in the town of Torkham where normalcy returned as hundreds of Shinwari tribesmen who had fled the clashes to seek shelter with their relatives in nearby Landikotal town started returning to their abandoned homes.
Stranded people were happy with the reopening of the border after a six-day hiatus. A young man from the Afghan province of Paktia, said he was a student at the Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad. “Pakistan and Afghanistan should cease hostilities and address mutual misunderstandings through talks in order to facilitate their peoples,” Obaidullah told The Express Tribune as he crossed into Pakistan.
Haji Khanuddin, a Shinwari tribesman who owns a restaurant in the border town, said his tribe had been straddling the border for centuries, and no one could separate them. “I request both Islamabad and Kabul to handle the border affairs through mutual understanding and avoid fighting in the greater interests of their peoples,” he said.
Haji Hanzallah, the owner of a taxi stand in Torkham, welcomed the reopening of the border. “The border clashes badly affected the local economy,” he said. “Around 5,500 cabs and 1,500 vans, called ‘Flying Coach’ in local parlance, remained parked in the stand for six days and their drivers and cleaners could not earn a living for their families.”
The border clashes prompted bitter recriminations on both sides, with Islamabad and Kabul summoning each other’s diplomats to lodge strong formal complaints. The Pakistani military justified the construction of the gate at Torkham, saying ‘terrorists’ were using the crossing point. Pakistan accuse some elements in the Afghan government of harbouring outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s fugitive chief Mullah Fazlullah who is said to be orchestrating attacks on Pakistani soil from Afghanistan.
Afghan officials also accuse Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and continuing to nurture sanctuaries on its soil in the hope of maintaining influence in Afghanistan.
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree on ceasefire at Torkham border
Hours after the border was opened the Foreign Office issued a statement saying an Afghan delegation will visit Islamabad to ease the tension in Torkham.
In response to an invitation by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz to Afghan National Security Adviser and Foreign Minister to visit Pakistan, an Afghan delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, will visit Islamabad on June 20 for discussions on the issues relating to Torkham border crossing as well as other matters pertaining to border management, according to the statement.
“Pakistan welcomes the visit and looks forward to meaningful deliberations through a constructive engagement between the two sides with a view to promoting bilateral relations as well as peace and stability of our two countries and the region.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2016.