Pakistan Partially Reopens the Torkham Border Crossing with Afghanistan

A single border gate, a stark symbol of the region’s enduring volatility, creaked open today at Torkham, providing a narrow, temporary reprieve in the ongoing humanitarian and geopolitical standoff between Pakistan and Afghanistan. After a nearly three-week closure following deadly cross-border clashes, Pakistani authorities partially reopened the vital crossing, but only for one purpose: to permit the passage of stranded Afghan refugees desperate to return home, who Pakistan sees as a security threat. The reopening is a grudging humanitarian concession, carefully managed within the framework of a fragile, externally mediated ceasefire, and it underscores the deeply troubled nature of relations between Islamabad and Kabul. All other movement, critically, trade and transit, remains suspended, leaving hundreds of cargo trucks, carrying millions of dollars in perishable goods, to continue rotting in the dust on both sides of the Durand Line.

The closure, which began on October 12 after an exchange of fire escalated into the most intense border fighting between the two countries in years, effectively paralyzed this primary conduit of commerce and migration. The fighting itself was rooted in a deeper, more intractable issue: Pakistan’s hardening stance against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its demand that the Afghan interim government cease providing sanctuary to the militant group on Afghan soil, an allegation Kabul vehemently denies. While the recent flare-up was brought to a halt by a Qatar and Turkey-facilitated ceasefire, followed by tense negotiations in Istanbul, the underlying security crisis is far from resolved. The partial reopening, therefore, feels less like a return to diplomacy and more like a tactical pause in a high-stakes confrontation.

The images emerging from the border are testament to the sheer human cost of this recurring political theatre. Thousands of Afghan nationals, many of them families displaced by Pakistan’s comprehensive campaign to deport undocumented immigrants since late 2023, have been languishing in temporary camps and along the roadside since the October closure. Having already been forced to abandon what little life they had in Pakistan, they were left exposed without adequate food, water, or shelter, trapped between two states with little apparent regard for their plight. Local Afghan officials confirmed that the gate was opened exclusively for these returnees, with thousands expected to cross today. In a poignant, almost surreal gesture, a video released by the Information and Culture Department of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province reportedly showed Afghan officials welcoming the returnees with flowers, a small moment of dignity for people whose forced migration story has been anything but dignified. The majority of these returnees are arriving back in an Afghanistan they may not know, a nation already teetering on the edge of a severe humanitarian and economic crisis, with limited resources to absorb this massive influx of people. Aid agencies, already stretched thin, have warned repeatedly that the sheer number of deportations and forced returns threatens to overwhelm Afghanistan’s fragile social and economic infrastructure, especially as winter approaches.

The decision to keep the border closed for trade is a clear signal that the political and security dimensions of the crisis continue to override economic and regional stability concerns. Torkham is a linchpin for bilateral trade, valued in the billions, and is Afghanistan’s primary lifeline to the sea for its own trade with Central Asia. Its extended closure will inflict further damage on both economies, with traders on both sides reporting losses of millions of dollars daily and warning of a severe spike in the prices of essential commodities. For Pakistan, the continued closure represents a significant use of non-military leverage against the Afghan government, prioritizing security compliance over the restoration of vital economic ties.

Meanwhile, diplomatic friction continues to simmer. The border’s partial reopening came a day after Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan, Ahmad Shakeeb, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to voice his strong grievances regarding the large number of Afghan refugees stranded due to the crossing closures. This public appeal, while highlighting the humanitarian urgency, was swiftly rebuked by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Tahir Andrabi, who accused the ambassador of violating diplomatic norms by airing such issues on social media instead of through official channels. This small but telling exchange illustrates the deep lack of trust that permeates the relationship, a mutual antagonism that threatens to unravel the painstakingly negotiated ceasefire at any moment. The partial reopening of the Torkham gate is thus not a sign of peace, but merely a necessary valve release, allowing a human tragedy to proceed while the geopolitical pressures continue to mount. The world watches to see if the next round of diplomatic talks can manage to transform this brittle, temporary ceasefire into a durable mechanism for stability, or if the Torkham gate will simply slam shut again, trapping another wave of desperate people.