Pakistan opens border crossing with Afghanistan after one week: officials

Pakistan on Saturday opened its busiest border crossing with Afghanistan after one week, allowing thousands of people and trucks to cross both sides of the border, officials said.

The border at Torkham was closed on June 12 after troops of both countries traded fire over construction of a gate by Pakistan on its side. At least one Pakistani and one Afghan soldier were killed while several people on both sides were injured during the skirmishes.

Afghanistan raised objections to the gate's construction, saying it was not informed about the construction.

Pakistani officials said the gate is being built as part of the country's border management plan to stop the cross-border movement of the militants.

Pakistan has also introduced a new mechanism that makes it obligatory for Afghans to carry legal travel documents. Earlier, people living near the border on both sides would cross the border without passport and visa.

Afghan and Pakistani military officials, who met at Torkham, reached an agreement late Friday to reopen the border, a Pakistani official said Saturday.

A Pakistani journalist in the area, Nasib Shah Afridi, told Xinhua from Khyber tribal agency, that the border was reopened at around 8:45 local time.

"I can see hundreds of people from both sides crossing the border and trucks, carrying goods, are moving on both sides," Afridi said by phone. He said locals are very happy at the border opening as it has brought life and business activities to normal.

Both sides are observing a ceasefire along the border.

Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold talks in a couple of days to find out a solution to the border issues, officials and diplomats said.

Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister Hekmat Karzai will visit Islamabad, for talks with Pakistani officials, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal has confirmed. Endit