After 18 days, Pak-Afghan border reopens

After around 18 days of remaining closed, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Chaman and Torkham opened on Tuesday morning, according to sources in Frontier Constabulary.

The borders at both the points — in Chaman area of Balochistan and Torkham in Khyber Agency — have been opened only for travellers on foot, and not for vehicles.

The bar on trade activities between Pakistan and Afghanistan is in place. The Chaman border, Bab-e-Dosti, will be opened from 8AM till 5PM.

On Monday, the Pakistani authorities said they would open the border for two days to let Afghan nationals with valid visas pass through.

The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was closed on February 16, hours after a bomb ripped through a shrine in interior Sindh leaving at least 80 people dead.

The suicide attack on Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine in Sehwan city of Sindh was part of a deadly wave of terror attacks in the country, and the fifth blast in less than a week targeting innocent people.

The border has since been closed due to security concerns and non-cooperation by Afghan authorities regarding devising an effective border management mechanism.

Read: Security concerns prompt closure of Pak-Afghan border

"In order to provide an opportunity to those nationals of Afghanistan who had come to Pakistan on valid visas, and wish to return to their country, the Government of Pakistan has decided to open the border crossings at Torkham and Chaman on 7th & 8th March 2017," the ministry said in a press statement issued on Monday.

The crossing points will also be opened on these two days for Pakistani citizens who had gone to Afghanistan on valid visas and wish to return to Pakistan, it said.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has conveyed the decision to the Afghan ambassador via telephone, it added, and all concerned at the two crossing points have also been informed.

'Humanitarian crisis'

On Saturday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said the closure of Pak-Afghan border had been building into a 'humanitarian crisis', calling for cooperation from both sides on cross-border terrorism.

Full story: Closure of Pak-Afghan border building into humanitarian crisis, says Imran

He urged authorities to allow individuals with valid travel documents to pass through the border.

"Those with valid travel documents & perishable goods should be allowed to cross border to mitigate suffering of ordinary people on both sides," Khan said.

Terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan

Of late, Pakistan has voiced concerns over terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan, from where majority of last month's attacks were believed to be coordinated.

In February, Pakistani diplomatic officials summoned the Afghan deputy head of mission to the Foreign Office to convey their concerns over continuing attacks by terrorist outfit Jamaat-ul-Ahrar from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.

Also read: COAS asks RSM to stop use of Afghan soil for terrorist attacks in Pakistan

Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa also held a telephonic conversation with US General John Nicholson, Commander of Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in Afghanistan on February 17, conveying his concerns over continued acts of terrorism in Pakistan from Afghanistan, the ISPR said in a statement.

"Most of the incidents in Pakistan are claimed by terrorist organisations with leadership hiding in Afghanistan," Gen Bajwa told US General John Nicholson.

"The COAS said that such terrorist activities and inaction against them are testing our current policy of cross-border restraint," the ISPR said in a statement.