The main point of transit for travellers and goods between Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan, Torkham border crossing, was closed on Wednesday as the security forces from both countries exchanged fire, national media reported. Local residents reported the sound of gunfire by the Torkham crossing and said people around the busy border area near the Khyber Pass had fled once the firing started.
Security officials from the area were quoted as saying that Taliban and Pakistani forces had exchanged fire but there had not yet been any casualties. A spokesman for the local government in Afghanistan’s Nangahar province, where the crossing is located, and a spokeswoman for Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Irshad Mohmand, a local administration official, said the crossing was shut from the Pakistan side after a security dispute spiralled.
“Afghan forces tried to establish a checkpost in an area where it is agreed … that both sides will not establish a checkpost,” he told AFP news agency. “After an objection from the Pakistan side, the Afghan forces opened fire,” he said, adding that Pakistan border forces responded with “retaliatory fire”.
Abdul Mateen Qani, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, confirmed the clash between Afghan and Pakistani forces. He said officials from both sides were attempting to find out what caused the clash and ways to prevent such incidents in the future.
Pakistani authorities said dozens of trucks carrying perishable items, including vegetables and fruits, were waiting on both sides of the border for the reopening of the Torkham crossing. Disputes linked to the 2,600 km (1,615 miles) border have been a bone of contention between the neighbours for decades. The crossing has been closed several times in recent years, including a closure in February that saw thousands of trucks laden with goods stranded on each side of the border for days.
