KOHAT: Head of the Shura of Afghan refugees in Kohat division, Ghaffar Khan, has called for opening Torkham border for bilateral trade and meeting of families living on both sides.

Mr Khan who heads over 130,000 registered Afghans living in Kohat and Hangu districts told a meeting of refugee elders here at KDA Town on Sunday that both the countries were bound in strong ties of religion, language and culture which could not be separated.

He said that many families were stuck on the border who should be allowed to go to their ancestral villages across the border. He said that over three million refugees living here and hundreds of thousands of other people had been affected by the closure of border.

He regretted that thousands of containers were stranded inside Afghanistan and people had been suffering huge losses due to decaying of perishable items affecting business on both the sides.

He stated that the governments of both the countries should tackle the issue of terrorism wisely. He said that the closure of border was creating hardships for the ordinary people who had nothing to do with politics or terrorism.

The refugees’ leader said that more delay in opening of the border would damage the ties and the benefit would go to the common enemy. He reiterated that no one could divide the Pakhtun nation which was living together for centuries.

He urged leaders of the two countries to start a dialogue process for solving their issues. He said that the businessmen and the divided families were in turmoil for a month now therefore the Pakistani government should allow them to continue trade and meet their dear ones living on both sides.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2017