Pakistan-Afghanistan border closed for second day running after firing

New Delhi: The Torkham gate, one of the central transition points between Afghanistan and Pakistan, remains closed for the second day running after border guards fired on each other on February 20, 2023.

Hundreds of civilians, including sick patients, are stranded, and the shops and other establishments in the vicinity remain closed amid heavy patrolling by border troops.

The Torkham border crossing, a key transit point for travellers and goods, is located in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

The Tolo news agency quoting Karimullah Agha, an intelligence officer at the Afghanistan side of the gate, said, "The fighting started between two check posts on the top area. One belongs to Pakistan and another to our (Afghanistan) Ministry of Défense."

The gate closure caused problems for many people needing medical care for the patients and their accompanying relatives. They called on the two sides to have a flag meeting and agree on reopening the gate for patients and trucks carrying essential goods on humanitarian grounds.

Hundreds of truck drivers with loaded and perishable food items and essential goods are stranded on both sides of the border. The traders appealed to reopen the gates for trucks having perishable food items and are left on the border side of both sides.

Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades. The Torkham border is the main transit point for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan.

Recently, many clashes have been reported alongside the Durand Line between the ruling Taliban and Pakistan security troops.

Pakistan has tightened security measures and controls at the border crossings with Afghanistan since the banned Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ended a cease-fire with the government in November 2022.

TTP militants are known to have been sheltering in Pakistan's tribal areas. In a separate incident, Tolo news agency reported that a gun battle erupted late on February 19 between Pakistani troops and Taliban forces in Durbaba, a town in the Afghan province of Nangarhar near Torkham gate.

One Taliban fighter was killed in the exchange of fire, Radio Mashaal reported. There was no official reaction to the incident from either side.

Both the Torkham and Chaman border crossings, which are critical for landlocked Afghanistan, have also been temporarily closed in the past. In December 2022, border clashes between the Pakistan and Afghanistan border town of Chaman killed at least seven people and wounded dozens.