CHAMAN: Due to the latest wave of violence from certain ‘elements’ in Afghanistan, Torkham border – between Pakistan and Afghanistan – has been shut for all kinds of movement until further order.
Pakistan Army’s Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) reported that the border was shut with immediate effects amid security concerns. The action has come in after seven terror attacks hit multiple cities across Pakistan in last five days.
After Lahore was targeted on Monday, attacks in Quetta, Peshawar and Sehwan Sharif of Sindh followed this week. Chief Traffic Officer and Senior Superintendent of Police lost their lives among 14 people in suicide blast outside Punjab Assembly, whereas a van of judicial staff was targeted in Peshawar’s Hayatabad claiming a life.
A splinter group of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban, Jamaatul Ahrar, claimed responsibility of the Mall Road attack and alleged social media page of the outfit claimed to carry out more attacks in latest series of offensive.
Torkham border was last closed in 2016 after Afghan troops resorted to unprovoked fire. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz had then asserted that the porous border would be well-managed with effective policies and no Afghanistan national would be allowed to enter Pakistan without proper documentation.
Aziz’s statement had come in as thousands of Pakistanis residing in areas situated along the border travel to Afghanistan every day for business and vice versa.
Mullah Akhtar Mansour, former leader of banned TTP was revealed to have obtained a Computerized National Identity Card, claiming to be a Chaman local, further proving loopholes in Pakistan’s registration and management systems.
