Pak-Afghan: Fresh attack prompts closure of Torkham border

Pakistani authorities closed the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan on Friday following reported assaults on Pakistani labourers by Afghan troops. The development came a day after Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers reportedly beat up two Pakistani citizens and tore up their travel documents. ANA troops stopped a Pakistani driver’s vehicle, thrashed him along with his cleaner passenger, and took away the cash they were carrying, said Wing Commander Colonel Mushtaq Ahmad while talking to journalists at Torkham border. The driver, Yar Khan, and his cleaner, Lal Gul, also spoke to the media, and said they were beaten up by ANA personnel at Pul-e-Charkhi checkpoint near Kabul. They said the Afghan army men warned them to never enter Afghanistan again. After the border was closed, Afghan police official Nisar Afghani apologised to Col Ahmad, as well as political administration official Mairaj Khan, and tried to convince them to open the border – but his efforts were unsuccessful. Last Friday, 29 Pakistani labourers were harassed by ANA personnel at Pul-e-Charkhi after which Pakistani authorities closed the Torkham border for six hours – however, after negotiation with Afghan authorities, it was re-opened. Afghan labourers beaten Meanwhile, Afghanistan protested over attacks on its nationals by unidentified men in Khyber Agency and demanded an investigation into the incident. The Afghan foreign ministry said that unidentified men harassed Afghan nationals and tore up their passports and other travel documents near Landi Kotal town. “The Afghan foreign ministry expresses serious concerns over the incident of maltreatment and beating of Afghan nationals in Khyber Agency on Thursday,” said a statement emailed to The Express Tribune. Afghan Ambassador Umer Daudzai noted that whenever the two countries make progress to strengthen their bilateral relationship, incidents like these happen. “Both sides are trying their best to contain the current problems and to prevent such incidents in the future,” Daudzai told The Express Tribune. The foreign ministry as well as the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad are taking up the issue with Pakistani authorities to bring those responsible to justice. Afghan officials in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar meanwhile said that three children under the age of ten died of cold following the closure of the Torkham border. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the spokesperson for the Nangarhar governor, said in Jalalabad that the children were waiting on the Afghan side of the border in severe cold and rain to cross into Pakistan but “died of harsh weather”. An Afghan border police official, Idrees Momand, was quoted by the Afghan media as saying that the three children were sick and had been waiting to cross the border for treatment in Pakistan.