KABUL: Taimoor Khan, a young and educated Pakistani working in a private firm in Kabul, was making no bargain over taxi-fare as he wanted to reach Torkham border as early as possible to be in Peshawar before dusk.For Taimoor and hundreds of other Pakistanis and Afghans either living in Kabul or Peshawar, the Torkham-Peshawar Road is more dangerous these days than the newly built 225 kilometers long road, lying between Kabul and Torkham, owing to the recent incidents of kidnapping and alleged presence of the militants in Khyber Agency.“In the morning, I am ready to pay a maximum of 400 afghanis (Afghan currency) as fare but after 10:00 a.m., I am not ready to take any risk,” the 35-year-old Pakistani told this scribe while travelling in a luxury car from Kabul to Torkham on Thursday. An average fare of motorcar, carrying four commuters from Kabul to Torkham, is between 400 to 450 afghanis but the Afghan drivers are exploiting the situation when the intended passengers reached in or before the noon. A coaster charges 175 afghanis per passenger while Hiace and 8-seaters are charging between 200 to 250 afghanis per passenger from Kabul to Torkham.
The security situation on Peshawar-Torkham Road improved after the security forces carried out operation against kidnappers, criminals and alleged militants in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber Agency some two weeks back.A beeline of light and heavy vehicles at least at daytime shows that movement between Afghanistan and Pakistan has increased significantly but fear and uncertainty of the drivers and passengers are yet to be removed.Owing to newly built road from Kabul to Torkham, the eight-hour long distance had been reduced to 3 and half hour provided that traffic is not blocked for the safe passage of the US-led military convoy on the same road.The whole traffic is jammed when the military vehicles escorted by Afghan police and army are plying the road. Even the car-owners and drivers of passengers’ vehicles are bound to off-road and stop movement of their vehicles until the bunker-typed trucks and military jeeps of the US-led force are passed. The 75-kilometers long Jalalabad-Torkham Road was built by Pakistan as part of Afghanistan’s reconstruction after 9/11 but the removal of painted flag of Pakistan and slogan of ‘Long live Pak-Afghan friendship’ on the top of the toll plaza is definitely a sign of embarrassment for Pakistanis when they enter the road built at the cost of million of dollars.The heavy presence of Afghan police and frequent checking of passengers vehicles from Torkham to Jalalabad and Kabul by the Afghan security officials are also one of the major concerns for Pakistani nationals most of them travelling on legal documents to Afghanistan.
However, one should not hide the excesses and corruption of Pakistan security officials and staff on Torkham border, who are openly receiving bribe from the Afghans while entering Pakistan and in case they have nothing to grease their palms, they are being thrashed and disgraced. A Pakistani taxi-driver, who was hired by this scribe from Torkham to Peshawar, said the border security staff and Pakistan police had been taking bribe from Afghan nationals until they entered Peshawar city via Jamrud check-post. The driver, belonging to Afridi tribe, claimed he witnessed the excesses and corruption of Pakistani officials deputed on Pak-Afghan border and many checkposts on Jamrud checkposts.He fears that Pakistanis might be treated in the same manner in Afghanistan if the Pakistan officials continued their dirty practice.
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