KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan has closed the Ghulam Khan border crossing with Afghanistan following two deadly suicide bombings targeting its security forces in North Waziristan.
The crossing, which connects Pakistan with Afghanistan’s Khost province, was shut indefinitely on Saturday evening. Mustaghfir Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban-appointed governor in Khost, said Pakistani officials informed border authorities at Ghulam Khan that the closure was due to escalating security threats.
Gurbaz urged citizens, traders, and travelers to avoid using the route until further notice and to seek alternative crossings.
Pakistani journalist Tahir Khan reported that the closure came after twin suicide bombings in North Waziristan that killed 13 Pakistani soldiers. In response, the Pakistani military launched a clearance operation in the area, killing approximately 14 fighters from Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned armed group with ideological ties to the Afghan Taliban.
No formal statement has yet been issued by Pakistani authorities. However, local officials in North Waziristan have reportedly imposed a complete movement ban in the region, citing a surge in militant violence in Pakistan’s northwest.
Islamabad has long accused the Afghan Taliban of sheltering TTP militants, who allegedly use Afghan territory to plan and launch cross-border attacks. The Taliban, in contrast, insist they do not allow any group to use Afghan soil for hostile acts against other nations.
The presence of TTP members in Afghanistan remains a point of growing tension. Former Pakistani envoy to Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, has estimated that around 6,000 TTP fighters and their families are currently based in the country.
