KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan has closed the Torkham border crossing, a key transit route between Afghanistan and Pakistan, following a dispute with the Taliban, local sources in eastern Nangarhar province reported.
The closure, which took effect on Friday night, came after Pakistani forces reportedly blocked Taliban attempts to build a checkpoint near the border, escalating tensions between the two sides.
The closure has left hundreds of travelers stranded on both sides of the border, the sources added.
Abdul Jabbar Hikmat, the Taliban commissioner in Torkham, confirmed the shutdown, saying it happened without prior notice.
“The reason for this border closure is the construction of new checkpoints and facilities. Whenever the Afghan side starts building security checkpoints within its own territory, the Pakistani side closes the route without warning, creating problems for the people,” Hikmat said.
He added that efforts are underway to reach a diplomatic resolution to the issue.
Pakistani authorities have yet to comment on the matter.
The Torkham crossing, which links Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, is one of the busiest routes for trade and travel, including patients seeking treatment.
This is not the first time Pakistan has closed the border. In recent years, it has been shut multiple times, sometimes for days, even affecting Afghan patients needing urgent care.
Pakistan has tightened border controls along its nearly 2,600-kilometer frontier with Afghanistan in an effort to curb terrorist infiltration, following a surge in militant attacks in the country.
