Torkham’s border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened on Wednesday after being closed for almost a month, facilitating the resumption of trade between the two countries.
The border was closed on February 21, after the initiation of the Afghan authorities of “Construction and Development of Trincheras” along the border, that the Pakistani forces had summoned as the reason to stop movement and commerce.
Torkham serves as the main transit point for goods and travelers between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In 2024, bilateral trade exceeded $ 1.6 billion, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.
Naheed Khan, a senior police officer in the Khyber district of Pakistan, confirmed the reopening of Torkham’s door for transport, while the Afghan customs agent Hazrat Nabi Toor verified that trucks could once again cross the border.
Hajji Hikmatullah, Torkham’s Afghan commissioner, said the reopening would allow trucks trapped on both sides of the border resume their trips. He added that the movement of passengers through the crossing would begin on Friday.
Hikmatullah asked both countries to create a “comprehensive strategy” to separate political problems from trade, encouraging the strongest economic ties.
Asghar Ali, a Pakistani customs agent, said that hundreds of trucks, which transport products such as fruits and vegetables, began to go to the border immediately after the announcement of the reopening. He stressed that the closing of the border had caused significant financial losses for companies.
The closure had resulted in millions of dollars in losses for merchants, with the border frequently closed due to the confrontations between the Pakistani and Afghan forces in the past. Last month, tensions about Torkham’s closure led to a skirmish that injured three Pakistani civilians.
The reopening occurs in the midst of continuous tensions between Kabul and Islamabad, largely due to an increase in militant attacks in the western provinces of Pakistan near the Afghan border as Islamabad has accused Afghanistan of hosting militants responsible for these attacks through these attacks, although officials have denied the accusations.
