Trucks carrying foodstuffs and medicines were able to cross the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan today, Saturday, after the Taliban authorities closed it about a week ago, due to disputes between the two countries and gunfire at the border.
Officials from the two countries announced today, Saturday, the reopening of the Torkham crossing, located 170 km from Kabul and Islamabad.
"The border post was fully reopened today at 6 am (1:30 GMT)," said Muslim Khaksar, the Afghan customs official at the border post.
"Transit and trade procedures are back to normal," said Irshad Muhammad, a senior official in the Khyber region on the Pakistani side.
And the correspondent of the French Press Agency reported that hundreds of people from the two countries crossed the border point today, Saturday.
Patient escorts
And the Afghan authorities closed the Torkham crossing last Sunday evening, after the Pakistani authorities imposed new rules on those accompanying patients at the border. Then, last Monday morning, an exchange of fire took place between the border guards from both sides, and each side held the other side responsible.
Today, Saturday, many patients in wheelchairs gathered with their companions, while border guards from the two countries checked their documents, and the Pakistani customs official stated that the companions were allowed to enter the country after showing their Afghan identity cards.
The reopening of the border crossing comes 3 days after Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, acting Afghan deputy prime minister, and Mullah Muhammad Yaqub, acting Afghan defense minister, in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul are tense and frequent clashes occur along the border, as Islamabad accuses its neighbor of allowing the Pakistani Taliban to operate from its territory, and attacks have doubled in recent months in Pakistan.
Kabul denies the accusation.