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New Logjam At Afghan-Pakistani Border, As Islamabad Tightens Document Requirements

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal January 13, 2024

Hundreds of trucks and other cargo vehicles have been stranded at the Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan after Pakistan implemented a requirement for passports and valid visas for Afghan drivers beginning early on January 13.

A countermove by authorities of the Taliban-led Afghan government appears to be compounding the chaos.

A Pakistani official at Torkham told RFERL's Radio Mashaal that Afghan drivers without passports were now barred from entering the country.

Hundreds of goods-laden trucks were stranded on the Afghan side of the heavily trafficked border as a result of the measure's implementation.

The Afghan Taliban authorities have also stopped Pakistani cargo vehicles from entering Afghanistan in response.

"Pakistan has repeatedly extended and given time on the valid visa and passport condition," a Pakistani official told RFERL.

Afghan Taliban security officials had called for Afghan drivers' exemptions from the passport and visa requirement.

The Taliban was said to have regarded the tightening as a unilateral decision.

The federal government of Pakistan implemented a border-control policy in 2016, known as Border Management, that does not allow anyone without a passport or visa to travel through the Torkham border crossing.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan- pakistan-torkham-logjam-document-requirements/32772899.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.