Torkham border crossing reopens for traffic after six-day hiatus

• Border crossing was reopened to traffic at 6am.
• Crossing opened from both sides for civilians, traders. 
• Customs official says border reopened after orders from Islamabad. 

LANDIKOTAL: Trading resumed at a key border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Saturday, six days after its closure by the Taliban authorities, The News reported Sunday citing officials.

The Torkham border crossing was reopened to traffic at 6am on Saturday, Afghan customs official Muslim Khaksar said at the site in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province.

"The border is now open from both sides for civilians as well as for traders," he said.

Customs official Tamash Khan told The News that they reopened Torkham, the main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan, after getting orders from Islamabad.

He said more than 5,000 loaded trucks had been stranded at the border, adding that they were facilitating the flow of traffic despite heavy rush at the border crossing.

The official said trade worth Rs5,000 million could not take place with Afghanistan in the past week due to the closure of the border. He said goods worth Rs400 million were exported daily to Afghanistan via the Torkham border. A traffic jam was witnessed on the road from Ali Masjid to Landikotal due to the high number of trucks and other vehicles.

Drivers and transporters were happy when they heard about the reopening of the border, thanking Pakistan for the decision.

Torkham customs officials said that they had made four lines of loaded trucks that would enter Afghanistan. Officials said they had deployed extra staff members to manage the movement of vehicles.

"Trucks carrying rice, cement, construction material, medicines and other edibles were sent to Afghanistan," a Pakistani customs official said, adding that lorries loaded with coal, vegetables and fruit had travelled the other way.

Hundreds of people from both countries passed through the crossing on Saturday after being stranded for days, an AFP correspondent reported from the frontier.

The Afghan authorities last Sunday suddenly closed the border after Pakistani authorities allowed an Afghan patient to enter the country, but asked the attendants to come with legal travel documents.

Later, the Afghan border security forces also opened fire and injured a Pakistani soldier at the Ayub checkpoint, located at the hilltop near the border.

— Additional input from AFP.