The Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained closed on Tuesday after 19 consecutive days. Local sources informed Harici that a final meeting was scheduled to be held today (Tuesday) to agree on resolving the issue of the Taliban military outpost and reopening the crossing, but this meeting has not been held so far.
This came when Mohammad Younis Momand, a member of the negotiating team, expressed his ignorance about the timing of the next round of meetings between the two sides. Meanwhile, sources also confirmed that the Taliban resumed construction of a border post since Sunday.
Momand said that a final meeting was scheduled to be held today to agree on resolving the issue of the Taliban military outpost and reopening the Torkham crossing between Taliban representatives and Pakistani tribal representatives and businessmen, but the meeting did not take place so far.
The closure of this crossing has increased concern among travelers and traders
The construction of the checkpoint by the Taliban has angered Pakistan and led to the closure of the crossing.
At the same time, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Afghanistan, has defended the Taliban’s establishment of checkpoints. “The current fighting across the line of control is because Pakistan seeks to coercively prevent Afghanistan from building a new security post and reinforcing an existing one. Pakistan has security posts on its side. Why shouldn’t the Afghans have security posts on theirs?” he said in a post in X.
Taliban and Pakistani border guards on Monday reached a temporary ceasefire at the Torkham crossing after days of clashes. The fighting erupted after Pakistan forces claimed that the Taliban are building security posts inside its territory. The Taliban rejected the claim and said that they are establishing check posts inside Afghan soil not Pakistan.
The ceasefire ended today, March 11 as negotiations continue between representatives of both sides.
However, the Torkham closure estimate daily economic losses with millions, and it has been said that approximately $3 million worth of goods typically transported through the crossing on daily basis.
