Torkham border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan
By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
January 13, 2024
Hundreds of trucks and other cargo vehicles have been stranded at the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Pakistan implemented a requirement for passports and valid visas for Afghan drivers beginning early on January 13.
A countermove by authorities of the Taliban-led Afghan government appears to be compounding the chaos.
A Pakistani official at Torkham told RFERL’s Radio Mashaal that Afghan drivers without passports were now barred from entering the country.
Hundreds of goods-laden trucks were stranded on the Afghan side of the heavily trafficked border as a result of the measure’s implementation.
The Afghan Taliban authorities have also stopped Pakistani cargo vehicles from entering Afghanistan in response.
“Pakistan has repeatedly extended and given time on the valid visa and passport condition,” a Pakistani official told RFERL.
Afghan Taliban security officials had called for Afghan drivers’ exemptions from the passport and visa requirement.
The Taliban was said to have regarded the tightening as a unilateral decision.
The federal government of Pakistan implemented a border-control policy in 2016, known as Border Management, that does not allow anyone without a passport or visa to travel through the Torkham border crossing.
Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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