TORKHAM, Nov 14: More than 60 trucks loaded with relief goods were stranded at Torkham, on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after the Taliban authorities refused to let the vehicles cross over to their side of the border on Wednesday.

During a visit to the area this scribe witnessed that the trucks carrying relief goods and wheat were parked at Torkham, some 54 kilometres from Peshawar, as the Taliban security guards, posted at the border, were not allowing the vehicular and Afghans to cross over to their side of the border.

“I have been waiting for entering Afghanistan for the last four hours but to no avail as they (Taliban guards) are denying entry even to Afghans,” said Noor Mohammed, a bearded middle-aged Afghan, who had arrived at Torkham via Peshawar from Iran to proceed to Jalalabad, the capital city of the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan.

Apart from Noor Mohammed, hundreds of other Afghans wanting to enter Afghanistan were stranded at the border post after being denied entry by the Taliban guards.

The Taliban reinforced its border security force on Wednesday at the border after a day of chaos and uncertainty on Tuesday when except for the Taliban’s chief intelligence officer posted at border all other security personnel had abandoned the posts leaving their weapons behind.

The Torkham-based authorities of the political administration, Khyber Agency, Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), told this scribe that the Taliban had closed the border with Pakistan amid fast changing situation in the Nangarhar province, in particular, and in Afghanistan in general.

According to Pakistan authorities, the Taliban increased the number of security guards at the Torkham border in an attempt to ensure tight security.

The Taliban’s border security guards, said the official sources, were equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machineguns and AK-47 rifles.

However, a tense calm prevailed at the border area inside Afghanistan throughout the day on Wednesday as the war-ravaged country is experiencing a major transition with the ruling Taliban militia melting down and the old tribal chieftains and former warlords taking over positions in the eastern zone of the country.

A doctor, in-charge of the Edhi Foundation’s recently setup emergency medial camp at Torkham for treatment of patients and injured coming from Afghanistan, told this scribe that the Foundation’s hospital at Jalalabad, in the war-torn country, admitted 50 injured people on Wednesday.

All the injured were brought from Kabul which has experienced heavy bombing by the US planes.

“They (the injured) could not be transported to Torkham due to uncertainty and tense situation in Jalalabad,” said the doctor.