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Friday March 29, 2024

Pak-Afghan border reopens, gate named after Major Jawad

By Web Desk
June 18, 2016

ISLAMABAD: The Pak-Afghan border at Torkham reopened for trade and visitors on Saturday after a closure of six days of tension.

According to a spokesman of foreign office the historic trade route was reopened for traffic after officials from both countries met early Saturday and the curfew was lifted at Torkham.

Trucks which had lined the border area as trade had been blocked began inching towards their destination. Traders rejoiced the return of normalcy in the area.

The new gate which Pakistan set up on its side of the border has been named after Major Jawad Ali, who embraced martyrdom on June 14 when Afghan forces fired at him.

In the six-day long border skirmished two security forces personnel and nine civilians were injured.

The skirmishes had begun when Afghan forces began unprovoked firing at the border to protest the installation of a gate on the Torkham crossing.

Officials in Pakistan maintained that the gate was being put up to prevent the flow of visitors from Afghanistan into Pakistan without complete documents.

After the lifting of curfew, people are being thoroughly checked and those with complete travelling documentation are being allowed to enter Pakistan at Torkham.

REUTERS ADDS:

Officials on both sides said the crossing had reopened after Kabul and Islamabad reached an agreement.

"To reopen the pass there were central and regional level negotiations," Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for Afghanistan´s Nangarhar provincial governor, said on Saturday.

Military reinforcements that had been sent to the area had been ordered to leave and cross-border traffic had returned to normal after having been stalled for a week, according to a Reuters witness in Afghanistan.

Thousands of vehicles normally pass through the crossing every week, making it a vital trade link between the countries.

As part of the agreement, officials said all Afghans would need official documents to pass into Pakistan.