LANDI KOTAL: Customs clearing agents at the Torkham border on Friday held a sit-in in front of the Customs House to protest against the alleged misbehaviour of Khasadar force personnel posted at the border. The protest also resulted in brief suspension of exports to Afghanistan.

All Customs Clearing Agents Association president Abdullah Shinwari told Dawn that the Khasadar force officials posted at Torkham were unnecessarily hampering their trading activities with Afghanistan by demanding bribes for out of turn clearance of vehicles from the Customs House.

He said that transporters and clearing agents were made to wait for days if they refused to pay bribe to the Khasadars. “The Khasadars thrash and misbehave with our colleagues and create hurdles to speedy clearance of Pakistani goods to Afghanistan,” he said and added that exports of perishable items, including fruits and vegetables, were seriously affected in the process.

The association held a sit-in in front of the Customs House and demanded of the authorities to ensure decent behaviour by the Khasadar officials. They also demanded of the Frontier Works Organisation to expedite work on the expansion of Torkham-Landi Kotal portion of the main highway as the slow work was also slowing down the movement of vehicles taking export items to Afghanistan.

The clearing agents ended their protest and the stranded vehicles were allowed to cross over to Afghanistan when the local political administration assured the association that its demands would be accepted. 

Meanwhile, two minor girls of a family died of severe cold on the main Peshawar-Torkham highway while returning to Afghanistan. Officials said that an unregistered Afghan family was on its way to Torkham border from Azad Kashmir when they had to spend the night on road, which caused the death of the two girls.

ARMS SHOPS CLOSED: In Jamrud, the local political administration has ordered the closure of all shops dealing in arms and ammunition with immediate effect. 

Without citing any reason for the abrupt action, the administration issued notices to at least 200 shops in Wazir Dhand market to shut down their business. It has also banned the display of weapons in Jamrud tehsil.

Immediately after the orders, arms dealers at Wazir Dhand market were seen packing their merchandise in haste and pulling down their shutters.

The administration has also directed all the arms dealers to get registered with it besides acquiring temporary permits for their arms.

The said market was opened about three months ago after remaining closed for over six months.—Correspondent

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2015

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