Mohib Khan, Assistant Collector of Customs Department in Pakistan’s Khyber district, said on Thursday that the Torkham border will be opened tomorrow (Friday) from seven in the morning.
In a statement released from the information center of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, it was said that the Torkham border will be opened at eight o’clock on Friday morning.
Maulvi Ismatullah Yaqub, Afghan Commissioner of Torkham, told Bakhtar Agency that the gate will be opened for passengers and transit tomorrow at eight o’clock.
An immigration official, on condition of anonymity, told Independent Urdu that instructions have been issued to officials of all departments to be present in the morning.
A meeting was also held today between the Pakistan Embassy and Afghan officials in Kabul to discuss the difficulties faced by travelers and businessmen at the border.
The AFP news agency reported in a report on Tuesday that there was a diplomatic deadlock between Islamabad and Kabul following the latest incident of firing by both sides in a dispute over an under-construction Afghan check post.
According to the report, both countries had accused each other of firing earlier.
Khyber district deputy commissioner Jamal Nasir told AFP that 1,300 vehicles, including trucks and trailers, were waiting for the border to open.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Monday that ‘unprovoked firing by Afghan border security forces encourages terrorist elements.’
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Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Pakistan has continued to show restraint despite continuous unnecessary provocations by Afghan troops deployed on the border and has given priority to dialogue.
The Taliban government’s foreign ministry said at the weekend that Pakistan’s alleged attack on its border guards was “against good neighborly relations”.
According to the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the closure of the gate cannot be justified under any circumstances.
According to the Torkham Transporters Association, more than 1,000 cargo trucks and other vehicles are parked on both sides of the border, in which food items, especially fruits and vegetables, are spoiling.
A dharna was held against the closure of the Torkham border on Wednesday at Landi Kotal Bazaar in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The participants of the sit-in had announced a protest sit-in at the zero point of the Torkham border if the border was not opened for foot traffic and commercial activities in two days.