Operations resume at Torkham crossing following recent border tensions

The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, which had been closed for three days due to skirmishes, has reopened, an official said on Thursday.

The crossing, connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) with Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, was shut down on Monday following clashes between the security forces of the two countries.

Abdullah Khan, a local Pakistani official at the border, confirmed to Anadolu that "the border has reopened this morning for travellers and transport after remaining closed for three days."

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 neighbours, as Torkham is one of the busiest trade routes between Islamabad and Kabul.

The trade volume between landlocked Afghanistan and Pakistan 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 neighbours near the Torkham border and unconfirmed reports of Pakistani fighter jets patrolling the airspace of Nangarhar and neighbouring Kunar province.

Read also: Afghanistan investigating alleged Afghan airspace violation by Pakistani jets

Islamabad accuses "Afghan-based" Fitna Al Khawarij 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 Chaman in Balochistan.

Afghanistan does not recognise 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 neighbouring 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.