KHYBER: Relatives of transporters stranded in Afghanistan ended their protest after receiving assurances from local authorities regarding their repatriation.

They had staged a protest on the main road leading to the Torkham border crossing on Thursday, causing severe traffic disruption.

Most transporters have remained stranded on the Afghan side of the border since its closure in October last year.

A local tribal elder, Shakir Afridi, said on the occasion that the Afghan Taliban authorities had assured a jirga that met them three weeks earlier that they had no objection to the stranded transporters returning to Pakistan, provided they were allowed entry by the Pakistani border and immigration authorities.

Meanwhile, the Khyber Transporters Association distanced itself from Thursday’s protest. Its president, Azeemullah Shinwari, insisted that the association was neither behind the protest nor consulted by the relatives of the stranded transporters.

He acknowledged that more than 600 transporters, along with nearly 900 vehicles, were anxiously awaiting a green signal from the Pakistani authorities.

He added that the association was in close coordination with the relevant officials to resolve the issue amicably at the earliest.

“We believe that the issue would be resolved with negotiations”, he insisted.Meanwhile, the law enforcement agencies took into custody over a dozen people during a search operation in Sultankhel locality of Landi Kotal on Thursday.

Local sources said that police and FC personnel, accompanied by lady police searchers carried out search operation in different localities of Sultankhel area and took into their custody some local residents on suspicion of facilitating and providing assistance to militants.

They said that the arrested men included both elderly and young with some of them had close family relations with militants operating in the area for a long time with Mazreena hilly area as their strong hideout.

Sources said that the operation created fear and panic among the Sultankhel residents who preferred to remain inside their homes during the search operation.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2026