KHYBER: Gunfire again erupted on the Pak-Afghan border on Monday evening, with border forces of both countries attacking each other’s positions with heavy artillery and tank fire.
Sources at the Torkham border told Dawn that the second round of cross-border fighting erupted when people in the nearby localities were busy offering Ramazan taraweeh prayers with artillery shells dotting the border skies and forcing the remaining residents to flee to safety.
With no official confirmation of any loss of life or injuries, residents claimed that a mosque was among several buildings on Pakistani side that were hit by firing by the Afghan forces.
They added that the artillery shelling from the Pakistani side was very intense but Afghan resorted to moderate firing and that, too, after long intervals.
Residents claim several buildings on Pakistani side damaged
Sources said that Pakistani forces targeted Afghan border positions from Landi Kotal camp and other nearby checkposts on hilltops, which overlooked the Torkham border.
They said that the shelling and firing from both sides continued until dawn on Tuesday, while security forces on the Pakistani side remained on high alert in their bunkers.
Resident Shah Jehan told Dawn that most of the residents either took shelter in the railway tunnels, a spacious basement at a mosque while some opted to stay inside their vehicles while taking refuge behind some nearby hillocks.
He said that drivers of the stranded loaded vehicles couldn’t flee and hid themselves under their vehicles to guard the loaded goods over fears of any eruption of fire for being hit by a mortar shell.
“The tense border situation and renewed fighting have added to the misery of transporters who were already facing both security and financial problems due to the prolonged border closure,” he said.
It is estimated that nearly 5,000 trucks loaded with export goods are stranded on the Pakistan side, which, customs officials said, is causing a daily loss of $1.5 million to both traders and the national exchequer.
The Torkham border is considered to be the main and busiest transit artery for both pedestrians and trade cargos between Pakistan and Afghanistan with a major chunk of coal, soapstone and dry fruits import from Afghanistan diverting from Kharlaachi to Torkham due to law and order situation in Kurram, where Kharlaachi border is located.
Mr Jehan said that local residents spent a sleepless night with most of them being without food at Sehri.
Meanwhile, hundreds of stranded Afghan nationals, who anxiously waited for the reopening of the border, took shelter in mosques in Landi Kotal where a local youth organisation provided them with food and warm clothes.
The cause of gun battle could not be ascertained so far as security officials refrained from sharing any details.
The Torkham border was abruptly closed on the night of Feb 21 after border security officials developed differences over the modification and renovation of border structure on both sides.
The development brought all types of cross-border movement to a complete halt, with both sides refusing to talk to each other. All hopes for reopening of the border possibly on Monday faded due to the sudden gunfight between border forces.
After conclusion of the flag meeting between security officials of both sides on Sunday afternoon, officials at Torkham had expressed optimism about border reopening insisting the meeting ended on a positive note regarding resolution of the thorny issue of additional structure on both sides of the border.
Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2025
