The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan will allow the United Nations to deliver
relief supplies to Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings,
which have been closed for nearly two months, an official said Thursday.
Mohammad Anas, a spokesperson for the Khyber district
administration in northwest Pakistan, told The Associated Press that the border
crossings will open immediately for U.N.-requested aid shipments. The crossings
will remain closed for trade and general travel. Initial deliveries will
include food, followed by medical supplies and other essential goods.
All crossings were shut in early October after Afghan forces
attacked Pakistani military posts in response to Pakistani strikes inside
Afghanistan. While a ceasefire brokered by Qatar remains in effect, broader
negotiations in Qatar and Istanbul have stalled, with both sides blaming each
other. Since last month, Chaman and Torkham had been open only for returning
Afghan refugees.
In Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the
closures were “illegally imposed by the Pakistani side as a means of political
and economic pressure, causing serious harm to the peoples of both sides.” He
added that trade routes will reopen only after Pakistan provides “strong
assurances” they will not be blocked again.
Chaman and Torkham are key commercial routes for Pakistan as
well, linking the country to Central Asia. Islamabad said the closures were in
response to Kabul’s support for the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan, a U.S. and U.N.-designated terrorist group allied to the Afghan
Taliban.
The border shutdowns have caused significant losses for
traders on both sides, prompting Afghan authorities to promote alternative
trade routes, though Pakistani unions maintain that Chaman and Torkham remain
the most efficient paths for commerce.
