Reopening of Ghulam Khan border-crossing postponed

MIRANSHAH: The political administration on Wednesday postponed the reopening of the Ghulam Khan border-crossing with Afghanistan.

The administration had postponed the reopening of the border route due to unknown reasons.

The decision at the eleventh hour has disappointed the traders and locals using the route to cross into Afghanistan.

The political administration had earlier announced to reopen the border crossing for trade with Afghanistan on March 7.

It had announced the decision after a jirga with local traders and tribal elders a few days ago.

A trader and tribal elder Abdul Hakeem said that the traders had invested millions of rupees in term of trade goods in Afghanistan and the decision was going to hit them hard.

He said the local traders primarily depended on the trade with Afghanistan and the continued closing of the border crossing was affecting their businesses dearly.

The traders called for immediate reopening of the border crossing for trade. It is to mention here that the Ghulam Khan border crossing was closed after the launch of military operation against local and foreign militants in North Waziristan on June 15, 2014.

The traders and tribespeople, who often cross into Afghanistan using this border crossing, were facing hardships. They have been demanding the reopening of the route since long.