Kabul: The Torkham crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained closed for traffic for the seventh consecutive day, resulting in trucks carrying goods being stranded on both sides, Pakistan-based TOLO News reported.
Traders said that the fruits and vegetables in the trucks were getting spoiled. Mohammad Farooq Ahmadi, a trader, said, “The fruits have returned to the domestic markets. Most of them were sold in the markets in Jalalabad. 7 kg of tomatoes were sold with prices of 15 to 20 Afs.”
Mohammad Yamin Watanyar said, “I myself only had three trucks, when I counted …My goods were spoiled,” TOLO News reported. Torkham Crossing has been repeatedly closed by Pakistan mostly during the season of fruits and vegetables in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Taliban-led Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) said that efforts are being made to find an alternative route in order to reduce dependency on trade on Torkham crossing.
Taliban-led Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC) said that efforts are being made to reopen the Torkham crossing. Akhundzada Abdul Salam Javad, Taliban-led Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MoIC), said that they are following the issue seriously and talks are being held with Pakistani officials to resolve the issue.
On September 11, people in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar held protests over the closure of the Torkham crossing. According to the protesters, Pakistan has regularly closed the Torkham border under various pretexts during the fruit and vegetable season. Protesters urged Afghan and Pakistani officials to resolve their political differences through diplomatic channels.
Afghanistan headed for civil war: Ex-commander
Kabul: Two years after the US forces abruptly left Kabul, Afghanistan is headed towards a civil war with the Taliban now riddled with factionalism, and the country becoming a safe haven for foreign terrorists, a former Afghan commander has said.
“I believe that the situation in Afghanistan is very critical and dangerous and it’s going in a dangerous direction, which could be a civil war again, or which could be a split to Afghanistan because you see that in last two years Afghanistan has been controlled by the terrorists and it has fallen into terrorist hands,” Lt Gen Haibatullah Alizai, who was chief of staff for the army at the time the capital city of Kabul fell to Taliban in August 2021, told PTI.
