(Torkham) Hundreds of trucks and travelers are still stuck on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday, almost a week after the main crossing point between the two countries was closed by gunfire.
Exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani forces took place on September 6 at the Torkham border post, due to disagreement over the construction of a security post on the Afghan side.
Each side accused the other of starting the hostilities. Since then, the two governments have been discussing the conditions for reopening the border crossing but without having yet reached an agreement.
The Pakistani side of the border was deserted on Monday. Markets and offices are closed, and people waiting to enter Afghanistan are sheltering in surrounding mosques.
Jamal Nasir, a senior official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told AFP that nearly 1,300 vehicles, including many trucks, are waiting along the roads for the border to reopen.
“Trucks carrying fruit and vegetables had to turn back because their goods were rotten or about to be rotten,” he explained.
Ghani Gul, a 55-year-old Afghan who came to the Pakistani city of Peshawar to have his eye treated, has been waiting for six days to be able to return home.
“I’m stuck here and I have no more money,” he cursed. “Why do I have to endure this border closure? Both countries should do what they want, but at least leave the border open for ordinary people. »
On the Afghan side, an Afghan truck driver named Siddiqullah criticized Pakistan for involving poor people in “political affairs”.
Torkham, located 180 km from each capital, is a major place of trade between the two countries, where Afghanistan exports coal to Pakistan, which in return delivers food and various products.
“Traders on both sides are suffering heavy losses,” Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, coordinator at the Pakistan-Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told AFP
He estimated the cumulative losses for the two countries at US$10 million in a week.
This incident further increased tensions between the two neighbors, whose relations have deteriorated since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Islamabad accuses Kabul in particular – which denies it – of allowing the Pakistani Taliban of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghan territory, who have increased attacks on Pakistani soil in recent months.