On Thursday, Pakistan shut down a key border crossing with Afghanistan, Torkham junction, just hours after it was reopened. The closure was due to administrative issues, according to Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This issue has added to increasing tensions between the two countries, who share a troubled and volatile boundary.
The closure of the crossing, a key trade route for both Afghanistan and Pakistan, started earlier this week when Afghanistan\’s Taliban rulers closed the crossing, claiming Islamabad was not abiding by an agreement with Kabul to allow Afghan patients and their caretakers to cross into Pakistan without travel documents for medical care. On Monday, Afghan Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards exchanged fire, which wounded a Pakistani soldier.
On Wednesday, Pakistan\’s defense minister and secret service chief traveled to Kabul and met senior Taliban officials to discuss the border issue. On Thursday morning, Torkham was reopened by Afghan Taliban forces, allowing some of the thousands of trucks that had lined up for days at the border to cross over and ease the backlog.
However, the crossing closed hours later. Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary for Pakistani militants whose cross-border attacks have led to a spike in violence in Pakistan. The Pakistani delegation to Kabul also raised the “growing threat of terrorism in the region,\” particularly by the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group. Pakistan has recently warned that it has the right to target TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan if the Taliban administration fails to rein in the militants, increasing the prospect of more cross-border violence.
On Thursday, Pakistan shut down the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan just hours after it was reopened. This closure was due to administrative issues and has added to increasing tensions between the two countries. On Wednesday, Pakistan\’s defense minister and secret service chief travelled to Kabul and met senior Taliban officials to discuss the border issue. The Pakistani delegation also raised the “growing threat of terrorism in the region,\” particularly by the Pakistani Taliban and the Islamic State group. Pakistan has warned that it has the right to target TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan if the Taliban administration fails to rein in the militants, increasing the prospect of more cross-border violence.
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