KHYBER: Vehicular traffic to and from Torkham was restored after remaining closed for several hours on Thursday owing to protest by the Khugakhel tribesmen in Landi Kotal against the construction of a customs terminal at the border over their additional land without their formal consent.

The agitated Khugakhel tribesmen agreed to open the road, which was closed at Torkham bypass in Landi Kotal, after a group of their negotiating team held a series of talks with relevant officials.

They managed to persuade the National Logistic Cell authorities to suspend work on the terminal till a solution was found to their objection to the acquisition of extra land without their consent.

Sources among the protesters, however, confided to Dawn that a ‘weak’ attendance at the protest camp on the bypass road forced Khugakhel elders to reopen the road.

They said that some of their elders were looking for a ‘face saving’ and wanted to end the protest in anticipation of a loss of interest by the ordinary tribesmen, who were already hit hard by rising prices of necessary daily use items and edibles.

Mufti Ejaz, the self-appointed head of the negotiating team, however, insisted that they would not step back from their genuine demands. He said that they would hold protests if the authorities concerned failed to honour their commitment regarding addressing their grievances.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of loaded vehicles were stopped on the road when Khugakhel tribesmen suddenly blocked the road. Many a transporters said that they were not expecting closure of road as the tribesmen threatened only to stop work on the terminal.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2023