Many Pakistanis return from Afghanistan as visa restriction deadline ends

Pakistani citizens will need visa to cross border from Jan 1

LANDIKOTAL: Hundreds of Pakistanis who had gone to Afghanistan returned via the Torkham border on Saturday as no Pakistani citizen would be allowed to travel to the neighbouring country without valid travel documents from January1, 2017.

However, officials said the residents of Landikotal have been exempted from this order. They would continue to travel to Afghanistan with passport and visa as their ‘rahdari’ (permit) would remain valid for crossing the Pak-Afghan border.

The so-called easement rights cater to the needs of people living in the border areas in both Afghanistan and Pakistan as they are related to each other and have to attend social events.

The authorities at Torkham said that from January 1 onward no Pakistani citizen would be permitted to enter Afghanistan without having valid travel documents.

The Pakistani authorities on the request of the Afghan and Pakistani businessmen extended the deadline twice. A large number of Pakistanis returned from Afghanistan via Torkham on Saturday before the expiry of the deadline.

Banners were displayed at various points in Torkham reminding Pakistani nationals that from January1, 2017 they would not be permitted to cross the Torkham border and enter Afghanistan without legal travel documents.Extra contingents of the security personnel have been deployed at the Torkham border crossing to implement the new policy.

The decision was taken with the view to ensure border management and check the movement of suspected elements to improve security.Pakistan and Afghanistan share a long and porous border stretching for more than 2500 kilometres where the movement of people from both sides has remained largely unregulated.