Afghans without visas denied entry into Pakistan at Torkham

More than 5,000 stranded at the Pak-Afghan border

LANDIKOTAL: Hundreds of Afghan nationals remained stranded for hours at the Torkham border on Tuesday as the authorities did not allow the Afghans to enter Pakistan without valid documents, eyewitnesses and sources said.

They said that more than 5,000 Afghan nationals were stopped at the Torkham border as most of them didn’t have any valid visa to travel to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, sources said a woman from Jalalabad breathed her last while waiting in a car to get clearance from the checkpost established at Shaheed Mor in Torkham to enter Pakistan. Also, a child reportedly died on the Afghan side of the border due to the hot weather.

Shakeel Umarzai, Political Tehsildar Torkham, confirmed the incidents and said that hundreds of Afghan nationals were waiting the whole day to enter Pakistan but they were denied entry. He said a 16-month old child died on the Afghan side of the border. He said the child was waiting with his parents to cross the border to enter Pakistan.

It was also reported that at least six persons fell unconscious on the Afghan side of the border as they waited for hours to cross the border into Pakistan. Later, the border controls were relaxed and those having valid visa for Pakistan were allowed entry at Torkham.

Pakistan had recently announced that only those Afghans having valid travel documents would be allowed to enter the country at the official border crossings at Chaman and Torkham.