Taliban Confirms Conditional Reopening of Torkham Border Crossing

Quraishi Badloon, press officer of Taliban in Nangarhar, announced that Torkham border crossing has been conditionally reopened. Badloon added that Taliban and Islamabad have agreed that the two sides will only let their citizens enter their countries through Torkham crossing.

Badloon stressed that the Taliban authorities have been negotiating to reopen the border for citizens and goods transit.

Earlier, Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, the director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that over the last five days, more than seven thousand trucks of goods have been stuck due to the closure of the Torkham crossing.

Sarhadi stressed that many of these lorries are loaded with food items that are likely to go bad.

In addition to trade with Afghanistan, Pakistan uses the Torkham crossing for exports to Central Asia.

Sources from Jalalabad city told Afghanistan International that up to 3,000 trucks most of which transport coal to Pakistan, have been stopped at the Torkham border.

Local Taliban officials in Torkham closed the crossing last Sunday, saying that Pakistani authorities did not fulfil their obligations.

The Taliban opened the crossing on Thursday, but it had remained closed by Pakistani authorities.