KHYBER: Labourers at Torkham on Wednesday protested the alleged torture of a worker by the Afghan border guards.

The protesters chanted slogans against the Afghan officials and demanded of their high-ups to take action against those involved in torturing their colleague.

Fahmeedullah, a labour leader, said on the occasion that excessive beating by the Afghan Taliban guards fractured the ribs of Arab Khan, a resident of Landi Kotal tehsil.

He said that the only crime of Arab Khan was that he had taken of bag of gur (jiggery) with a returning Afghan national to the other side of the border, where Afghan Taliban guards subjected him to severe torture and also tore his clothes.

He said that labourers and daily wagers were issued identity cards for their frequent cross-border movement as they had no other sources of income, but the Afghan guards were obstructing their movement on one pretext or the other.

Deploring the incident, Fahmeedullah demanded of the Afghan Taliban authorities to independently investigate the matter and provide justice to their colleague, who was poor and even had no resources for treatment of broken ribs.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2024