The border closure has halted all trade and passenger
movement between Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Afghanistan’s
Nangarhar province.
“Torkham border remains closed for all types of passenger
and trade vehicles movement, and security forces on both sides are on alert,” a
Pakistani security official stationed at the crossing told Anadolu.
No border flag meeting or communication committee talks have
been scheduled to resolve the standoff, though efforts are reportedly underway
to arrange discussions between officials.
The Torkham border is one of 18 crossings between Pakistan
and Afghanistan, where decades of territorial disputes have led to frequent
closures, disrupting trade and travel.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated since
November 2023, when Pakistan launched a crackdown on illegal foreigners, mostly
targeting Afghan refugees, and initiated their forced deportation.
Islamabad has also accused Afghanistan-based militants
linked to the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of carrying out
cross-border attacks, claiming that the Taliban government in Kabul has failed
to act against them—an allegation the Taliban denies.
In December 2024, the Pakistani military launched airstrikes
in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, marking the second such cross-border military
operation since March 2024.
The Afghan Taliban claimed that Pakistani jets killed 46
civilians, including women and children, while Islamabad denied that civilians
were targeted.
