PESHAWAR: The Torkham border which was closed for several hours by the Pakistani authorities after the Taliban took control of Nangarhar province on Sunday was reopened for trade vehicles on Monday.
According to sources in Customs, after the reopening Torkham Gate, stranded export and transit vehicles were cleared and sent to Afghanistan. Similarly, vehicles with import goods from Afghanistan such as fresh fruit, vegetable and dry fruits were also allowed to enter Pakistan.
Mohammadullah, a truck driver said that delivering goods in Afghanistan has become very a challenging task during the transition of power in the war torn country.
Khyber Khan, another driver who transports fresh fruit from Afghanistan, said that there are hundreds of freight vehicles on the road from Kabul to Torkham at present. He said most of the vehicles are facing problems due to customs clearance as there is no staff on the Afghan side of the border to clear goods due to Taliban’s take over.
Niaz Mohammad, an exporter, said that the current situation has dealt a severe blow to the Pak-Afghan trade as Pakistani traders aren’t taking the risk of supplying goods to Afghan markets. He said that Kabul will order goods from other countries in these circumstances.
It is pertinent to mention here that after the Taliban captured Nangarhar, the Pak-Afghan border, Torkham, was completely closed for all kinds of traffic and pedestrians and a heavy contingent of Pakistan security forces has been deployed at the gate, including Pakistan Army troops, FC, police personnel, who are on high alert.
