[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]According to representatives from the two countries, the main border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan was blocked on Monday. Locals in the vicinity also reported hearing gunfire close to the usually busy border crossing. Although it was not immediately obvious who was responsible for closing the Torkham border crossing, which is adjacent to the Khyber Pass, it comes amid a severe deterioration in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.
“The border is closed, we will share details later,” a spokesperson for the Taliban administration’s police force in the eastern Afghan province of Nangahar told Reuters. Media reported that the border was closed on Sunday evening but did not give a reason. Pakistani military, police and government spokespeople were not immediately available for comment but two Pakistani security officials in the region confirmed that the border had been closed and some gunfire had been exchanged.
Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades. The Torkham border point is the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan. The border was shut down late on Sunday, according to Mohammad Ali Shinwari, a resident of Landi Kotal on the Pakistani side, and gunshots broke out early on Monday.
“We grew scared and thought that the two countries’ armies would have started fighting when we heard gunfire in the morning,” he claimed. Since the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in 2021, there have been clashes on the border for years, as well as throughout the two decades when the US-backed government in Afghanistan ruled.
The second-most important border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, at Chaman to the south, has occasionally been closed as a result of clashes between Afghan and Pakistani security personnel. The threats of militancy emanating from Afghan land might have an impact on the entire world, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Sunday at a security conference in Berlin. Afterwards, a spokeswoman for the Taliban’s foreign ministry advised Pakistan to bring up matters in private rather than in public settings. According to the foreign ministry, the Taliban government would not permit the use of its land against other nations, especially against its neighbours.
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