KABUL (SW) – Businessmen and citizens say that due to the closure of Torkham border crossing by Pakistan, they have faced many financial losses and other problems.
This crossing has been closed for the movement of passengers and the transportation of commercial goods for four days now.
According to them, not only patients are prevented from entering Pakistan, but the commercial properties of many traders are stuck on this side of the border and they have suffered a lot of losses.
Salarzi, one of the citizens of Afghanistan who went to Pakistan for treatment says: “I have a patient with me, I wanted to go to Pakistan, but the road is closed and this is the fourth day that I have stayed here. If the road is not opened, many people, including me, will face many problems.”
Mohammad Assef, one of the drivers of the Torkham crossing, also says that due to the closure of the road, the load of his car, which is grapes, is disappearing, and this issue will cause him severe losses.
“We have suffered a lot,” he added. “Today is the fourth day, our property is disappearing. If the road is not opened, we will suffer a lot.”
Meanwhile, the local authorities of Nangarhar also say that due to the closure of the Torkham crossing, traders and citizens have faced many problems, but in addition to the Torkham Commissionerate, talks are ongoing at the level of the central authorities of the Islamic Emirate and Pakistan to solve this problem.
Qureshi Moulat, the head of information of Nangarhar Culture and Information Directorate, says that dozens of cars full of fruits and vegetables were returned to Jalalabad city, the capital of this province, and their loads were auctioned.
He added: “Negotiations to solve this problem are ongoing at the regional and central level. Some of the fruits that were stuck in Torkham and were perishing were auctioned in Nangarhar. We hope that this problem will be solved soon and the situation will return to normal.”
On the other hand, Sardar Ahmad Shakib, head of the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, says that he has discussed with Pakistani officials about the closure of Torkham border crossing.
The Afghan embassy in Islamabad said that Mr. Shakib, in a meeting with Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, called the closing of the Torkham crossing a loss for both countries.
ENDS
