Torkham border reopens after six days

LANDIKOTAL: The Torkham border that remained closed for six days was reopened to traffic on Saturday, officials said. 

Customs official Tamash Khan told The News that they reopened the border 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 one week due to the closure of the border. He said goods worth Rs400 million were daily exported 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.