The Afghan Pakistan Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan is open again after being closed for nine days because guards from both sides had a shooting incident. This closure left thousands of travelers and hundreds of trucks filled with goods stuck at the Torkham border, which is at the western end of the famous Khyber Pass.
Abdul Nasir Khan, the Deputy Commissioner, said, “Now, people can walk across, and vehicles can also use it.” A security official in Torkham mentioned that talks between the two sides helped fix the problem that caused the clashes.
People who speak for Pakistan’s foreign ministry and authorities in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar have also said that the border is open again.
This road is super important for landlocked Afghanistan because it connects the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar to Jalalabad, which is the biggest city in Nangarhar, and from there, you can go all the way to the capital, Kabul.
Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, who runs the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said, “The border being closed was causing big problems for traders and regular folks in both countries.”
Among the many families trying to get back home, even though it’s really hot and sticky, there was Mohammad Ismail, an Afghan refugee. He, along with his wife and four kids, spent a whole week in a temporary shelter in Peshawar, waiting for the border to open again.