Key trade crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan reopens after 9 days

Officials in Afghanistan and Pakistan say a key border crossing linking the two countries is open again

Afghanistan Pakistan border (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A key northwestern border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened Friday after a nine-day closure due to clashes between border forces, officials from both sides said.

Pakistan shut the Torkham border with its neighbor on September 6 after guards from both countries exchanged fire.

It accused Taliban authorities of building “unlawful structures” in the vicinity.

Pakistani government official Nasir Khan said the crossing reopened Friday morning. Afghanistan's commissioner in Torkham, Ismatullah Yaqoob, said stranded trucks and pedestrians have started passing through the border.

A representative from the Pakistan and Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce welcomed the move.

“The reopening has ended the nine-day-long trouble faced by traders on both sides of the border,” said Ziaul Haq Sarhadi. Traders have faced heavy losses in perishable items, he said.

Pakistan’s envoy to Afghanistan Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani met the Taliban administration's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul a day earlier. They discussed the recent surge in terror incidents and the closure of Torkham.

Pakistan accuses its neighbor of harboring militants and allowing them to use its soil to launch attacks. Afghanistan has rejected this allegation.