Afghanistan: Torkham border crossing largely closed to pedestrians, local trade drops

У вашего броузера проблема в совместимости с HTML5

The Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan remained under the full Taliban control on the Afghan side, as seen on Thursday.

The checkpoint is largely closed to pedestrians with citizens from both countries experiencing difficulties in getting back home.

“Pedestrian traffic will be restored as soon as possible for stranded passengers. Our talks with Pakistan are ongoing. We hope that very soon in the first phase, sick and ill patients will be allowed to go to Pakistan,” said Qari Abdullah, a local Taliban leader.

“We have been working at the border for the last ten days and we have not earned anything. The border is closed. No one from Afghanistan is allowed to go to Pakistan. Very few people are coming into Afghanistan,” said a local seller.

The recent Taliban offensive followed the announcement in April that the US and other NATO states would be withdrawing their forces from the country. Former president Ashraf Ghani has since fled Afghanistan and the US has evacuated its embassy staff from Kabul, as have many other NATO states.

Prior to the Taliban’s seizure of power, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and the US, among other world powers, had been pushing for an end to the conflict in Afghanistan.

—-

SOT, Qari Abdullah, Local Taliban leader (Pashto): “The Torkham border crossing is trying to open the way for migrants and travelers on both sides of the border. A meeting is to be held with the Pakistani authorities to open two-way pedestrian traffic. Pedestrian traffic will be restored as soon as possible for stranded passengers. Our talks with Pakistan are ongoing. We hope that very soon in the first phase, sick and ill patients will be allowed to go to Pakistan.” *LOOSE TRANSLATION*

SOT, Local resident (Pashto): “I have just come to Afghanistan from Pakistan. There was no problem in coming to Afghanistan from Pakistan. Afghan Identity Card is allowed on arrival. I’m happy to be back in Afghanistan. There was no other choice than to return to your homeland. The previous Afghan government was also fine. And the present one is also fine.” *LOOSE TRANSLATION*

SOT, Local seller (Pashto): “We have been working at the border for the last ten days and we have not earned anything. The border is closed. No one from Afghanistan is allowed to go to Pakistan. Very few people are coming into Afghanistan.” *LOOSE TRANSLATION*

#Afghanistan #TorkhamBorderCrossing

Video ID: 20210826-041

Video on Demand: https://ruptly.tv/videos/20210826-041
Contact: [email protected]

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ruptly
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Ruptly