Pak-Afghan main border crossing reopens for trade after 25-day

Pakistan and Afghanistan on Wednesday reopened their main border crossing after clashes between the security forces of both sides led to its closure for nearly a month, officials from the two governments said.

The Torkham border crossing, the main artery for travel and trade between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan, will be initially opened for trade, Pakistan government official Riaz Khan Mehsud told Reuters, and people would be allowed to cross on foot from Friday onwards.

Qureshi Badlon, head of the media department for the Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, said the two sides had agreed to reopen the crossing and resume transit trade.

'WELCOME MOVE'

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, welcomed the resumption of bilateral trade. He said he hoped the movement of people would resume this week.

Ghulam Ali, another Pakistani businessman, said the closure of the Torkham border had caused losses of millions of dollars for importers and exporters as some items perished. He thanked local tribal elders for facilitating the reopening.

The crossing has been closed since February 21 after clashes erupted. In the skirmishes, the two sides used mortars and rocket fire after Afghan forces objected to Pakistan's construction of a border outpost.

Since the closure, the crossing been clogged with truckloads of supplies, mainly to Afghanistan, which faces a humanitarian and hunger crisis and relies heavily on food imports from Pakistan.

Trade between the countries was worth over $1.6 billion in 2024, according to Pakistan's foreign office.

Reuters / AP