Taliban takes over border crossings with Pakistan, allows cargo trucks to cross

ISLAMABAD: As the Taliban blitzkrieg towards Kabul headed towards its conclusion, the border crossings of Afghanistan with neighbouring countries also fell into their control, and local commanders took over the administrative affairs with the Taliban now managing all border affairs.

The change of hands at the borders came as reports of Ashraf Ghani fleeing via a chartered flight came from Kabul. High Council Head for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah in a video on his Facebook page made the announcement. An Interior Ministry official said that Ghani had left for Tajikistan.

On Sunday, Pakistan, which had replaced paramilitary forces along the border with regular army troops immediately closed the Torkham border after Taliban officials took over the control of the largest crossing with Pakistan after the fall of Jalalabad.

The Nangarhar governor handed over control to the Taliban on the assurance that no government property would be damaged.

A Taliban official confirms Taliban arrived at Torkham, largest crossing with Pakistan, Sunday morning & r now managing border affairs. Nida Mohamad assumed office as Taliban governor aftr Zia ul Haq Amarkhil handed over governor house.(photo of pro headquarter shard by Taliban pic.twitter.com/LBETpTSnwY

— Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) August 15, 2021

Videos on Twitter showed armed Taliban arriving in 4×4 pickups with white ‘Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan’ flags on the Afghan side. The tricolour flags replaced the IEA flag.

Torkham is the largest crossing with Afghanistan, after Chamman, which witnesses heavy cargo traffic and people. However the takeover, keeping in view thousands of stranded people and cargo trucks on either side of the border, the authorities negotiated a mutually agreed opening schedule according to which trucks laden with fruits and vegetables were allowed to cross.

According to Sumaira Khan, a Pakistani journalist who witnessed the reopening of Torkham, the situation on ground seemed calm.

Meanwhile, traders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) said that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, exporters on both sides of the Durand Line are facing a loss of billions of rupees.

Sarhad Chambar of Commerce and Industry (SCCI)  former senior vice president, Shahid Hussain, said that Pakistan-Afghan trade is already on its lowest level and now trading goods are lying in warehouses due to the dubious situation.

He added that there is fear of uncertainty as exporters cannot to take risks of looting as there is no rule of law on the other side at present. “Until the new Cabinet of the Taliban or the interim government arrives, businessmen will never take the risk of sinking their capital,” Hussain said.

It is pertinent to mention here that rates of Afghani currency has also fallen to a record low level. Money exchanger shops in Peshawar’s Chowk Yadgar and Quetta’s Kandahari Bazaar have stopped buying and selling of the Afghan currency. Money exchangers say that a week ago, the Afghan currency maintained its position but during the last one week, the currency has fallen by 25 per cent due to which no one is ready to purchase it.

Since the buying and selling of Afghan currency has stopped, it is also causing huge losses to the traders.