Pak-Afghan border crossings opened temporarily

Pakistan on Monday opened two major border crossings with Afghanistan to allow stranded Afghan citizens to return home, officials said.

Islamabad, April 6 Pakistan on Monday opened two major border crossings with Afghanistan to allow stranded Afghan citizens to return home, officials said.

Thousands of Afghans including patients have been stuck in Pakistan after the country closed borders with Afghanistan to stop the spread of COVID-19, Xinhua news agency reported.

The border crossings at Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaman in Balochistan will be opened for a specific period from Monday to Thursday to facilitate Afghan nationals who wish to go back to their country, according to the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan.

According to Customs officials, only Afghan citizens could cross the border whereas Pakistani citizens are not allowed to return.

Farhad Shinwari, a Pakistani journalist told Xinhua on Monday that a large number of Afghan nationals are heading toward the Torkham border crossing to enter Afghanistan.

The Afghan embassy in Islamabad said on Sunday that arrangements will be made for the return of 1,000 people from each crossing daily and crossings will be opened for those Afghan nationals who have come to Pakistan on valid visas.

"I have seen many people, including women and children, sitting on the main road and waiting for permission to go to the border," Shinwari said, adding that the border was opened at 8 a.m. on Monday.

The border crossings have been opened only for the people and not for vehicles.

Last month, Pakistan temporarily opened Chaman border to allow trucks to cross into Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, officials in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province said they have established quarantine facility near the border with Pakistan for those returning from Pakistan.

Earlier in March, the traders' community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa demanded that the government reopen the Torkham border to at least allow goods trucks, especially those loaded with perishable items, to avoid huge financial losses to businesspersons apart from maintaining the cross-border trade with Afghanistan.

( With inputs from IANS )