Afghanistan's border with Pakistan at Torkham reopens after five months

Nearly five months after the former president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani ordered to close the Torkham border, on Saturday, the Taliban government announced the reopening of the borders for those who possessed travel documents, Xinhua reported. According to the reports, the announcement was made in view of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visit to Afghanistan national capital, Kabul on Thursday. Notably, Torkham is a major border crossing between the Pakistani city of Torkham and Afghanistan, located along the Grand Trunk Road on the international border between the two countries. It connects the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. 

In order to make the announcement, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for Foreign Ministry took to the micro-blogging site and wrote, "The Torkham gate is reopened and those Afghans have passport and Pakistan visa can cross the border." In his next tweet, the minister said, "For now, the Torkham route is open only for trucks and those with passports and visas, so those without passports and visas, whether adults or children are not allowed to cross into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa." It is worth mentioning that the all-men government has recently resumed the issuance of national identity cards and passports. Notably, the ID and passport services were discontinued soon after the extremist group seized the national capital, Kabul.

Pak minister discusses mutual interests with Afghan officials

The development comes as a relief for lakhs of Afghan nationals willing to either flee from the country or need to travel to other countries. Meanwhile, during Qureshi's one-day visit to Kabul, ministers of both countries have discussed matters pertaining to mutual interests including reopening border crossing points and enhancing trade and economic cooperation.  The major development came days after former Afghan President Hamid Karzai advised their neighbouring country, Pakistan to stop interfering in the internal matters of the war-torn country.

Taliban maintains position despite international pressure

Slamming the Pakistan government, he said that they should not encourage terrorists and extremist organisations against Afghanistan, and advised them to establish relations through "civil principles and principles of international relations." A series of incidents unfolded after the Taliban captured the national capital, Kabul, on 15 August, including a bomb attack. Since the Taliban's conquest, lakhs of desperate Afghan nationals have fled the war-torn country and taken asylum in different countries. Lakhs of people are still waiting for their turn to reach other countries. Despite facing a barrage of criticism and pressure from international communities, the terror organisation stood staunchly against the requests and warnings. 

With inputs from ANI

Image: ANI/Representative