Pakistan temporarily reopened the two main border crossings with Afghanistan on Tuesday following the border's closure last month amid a string of deadly militant attacks, officials said.
The measure, which is to remain in place on Wednesday as well, seeks to ease tensions between the two neighbours and relieve some of the backlog of people and vehicles at the crossings.
According to Pakistani officials, hundreds of Afghans and Pakistanis with valid travel documents are now allowed to cross through the Torkham crossing in the northwest or the Chaman in the southwest.
The two are major arteries for trade and commerce, though there are other crossings which are less in use and which will remain closed.
Fayyaz Khan, a government official at Torkham, told The Associated Press that 550 Afghans crossed over since the crossing was opened at 7am.
About 150 Pakistanis also returned home, he said, adding that “so far, no trade activity between Pakistan and Afghanistan has resumed.”
Hukam Dad, a security official at Chaman, said hundreds of Afghans were crossing there as well and that Pakistanis were returning amid tight security.
Pakistan shut the crossings three weeks ago after a wave of suicide bombings that authorities said was linked to militants from Afghanistan. Islamabad has also sought to use the closure as a tool to try and pressure Kabul to act against militants with sanctuaries across the border.
The foreign ministry in Islamabad said it conveyed the decision to the Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal, who last week asked the Pakistani government to reopen the border.
The reopening came a day after Pakistan said a group of militants attacked military posts after crossing over from Afghanistan into the Mohmand tribal region, triggering gun battles that killed six soldiers and 10 attackers.
Pakistan has opened its border crossings with Afghanistan after18 days for two days in order to allow the people with valid visas stranded on both sides of the border to cross into their native country.
The crossing points at Torkham and Chaman was opened today(Tuesday) and Wednesday both for Pakistanis who had gone to Afghanistan on valid visas and wish to return to Pakistan as well as the Afghan nationals who had come to Pakistan and now wish to return to their country via land routes.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz conveyed this decision to Afghan Ambassador Omar Zakhilwal by the telephone on Monday(Yesterday). All concerned at the two crossing points have also been informed, the Foreign Office said in a statement.
Islamabad shut Torkham and Chaman border crossings after a deadly suicide attack at the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar on February 16. The attack that left over 80 people dead was claimed by Jumaatul Ahrar, a splinter group of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, based in Afghanistan.
After the attack Pakistan had handed Afghanistan a list of 76 wanted terrorists believed to be hiding across the border. Kabul had, however, rejected the allegations and insisted Pakistan reopened the key crossings between the two countries.
Last week, the Afghan ambassador had said he would request his government to airlift Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan due to border closure, if Islamabad did not open the crossing points in two days. Thousands of people and vehicles have been stuck on both sides of the border due to the closure of the busy crossings.
