Border dispute strands thousands of trucks at Torkham crossing
Men sit near a queue of trucks loaded with supplies to leave for Afghanistan, after Taliban authorities have closed the main border crossing in Torkham, Pakistan February 21, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS
Thousands of trucks were stranded at the busiest frontier crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday, Afghan officials said, days after border points were closed to trade in the latest row over document rules for commercial vehicle drivers.
The Torkham crossing was closed to trade vehicles on Friday night, border officials said, with around 3,000 trucks stranded on both sides of the border as of Monday, the co-chairman of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Khan Jan Alakozai, told AFP.
This "has not only inflicted losses on traders from both countries but has also resulted in an increase in market prices, as most of the cargo consists of food items that will perish if the crossing remains closed", he said.
Read more: Torkham remains closed for second day
Both sides blamed the other for the latest shutdown at the Torkham crossing, which was extended to other border points since Friday.
The dispute centred on demands for drivers from either side to have visas and passports, a document many Afghans do not have.
A long line of trucks piled high with goods snaked down the road from Torkham on Monday afternoon, an AFP photographer saw.
Read: Pak-Afghan trade at Torkham border stops over visa dispute
A Pakistan customs official said on Monday that some 450 trucks were stranded on the Pakistani side of the Torkham crossing, with 600 more forced to stop along the road to the border.
Talks were underway between Islamabad and Kabul to resolve the issue, according to officials on both sides.
There was no breakthrough as of Monday night, Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Industry and Commerce, told AFP.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have had increasingly fraught relations in recent months, with Islamabad accusing the Taliban government of failing to root out terrorists staging attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil.
The Torkham and Spin Boldak-Chaman crossings were frequently shut last year, with tensions sometimes spilling over into armed clashes between border guards across the frontier.