In a significant development, Pakistan on Monday decided to reopen the Torkham border crossing after it conducted successful talks with Afghanistan on ceasfire.
The development comes as a sigh of relief for many travelers and traders who were suddenly stranded when Pakistan completely shut off the Torkham border.
Geo News reported that the significant breakthrough occurred during a Pak-Afghan jirga held to address border tensions at the Khyber-Torkham crossing.
Last month, Pakistan on February 21 closed the Torkham border crossing following hostilities from Afghanistan. Both countries had contention over Afghanistan’s attempt at building a check post in Pakistan’s territory.
As tensions grew between the two countries, so did the hostilities as both countries exchanged intense heavy gunfire and mortar shells.
The passengers who regularly travel between the two countries faced immense difficulties as they found themselves stuck, unable to move.
According to details, the high-level jirga between the two countries has decided to temporarily suspend disputed construction by Afghan forces.
The Afghan jirga, however, requested for some time to consult their authorities on the conditions of the jirga.
Pakistani jirga member Jawad Hussain stated that the Afghan delegation would tell their authorities about stopping construction of disputed check post.
He also noted that the both sides agreed to stop all hostilities and restore all types of movement across the border crossing.
It must be highlighted that the closure of Torkham border has resulted in significant loss of revenue through falling trades.
Torkham border works as an important corridor for trade between Pakistan and Central Asian region. Pakistan is connected to the Central Asian region by roads only through land-locked Afghanistan.
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