Pakistan decides to open borders for UN humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

Pakistan will temporarily allow UN relief supplies into Afghanistan, officials said on Thursday, in the first partial border opening since deadly clashes erupted between the two neighbours in October.

Responding to a humanitarian appeal from the United Nations, the Pakistan government has decided to open the Torkham and Chaman trade crossings to facilitate urgent delivery of food, medicine, and essential relief supplies, restoring limited movement after nearly 50 days of complete closure of all trade routes with Afghanistan. 

The decision was taken on humanitarian grounds following a request from the UN. In consultation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce issued formal instructions to Member Customs, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Directorate General of Transit.   Customs officials at Torkham have received the orders and preparations for relief cargo movement have begun.

The countries have been locked in an increasingly bitter dispute since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021.

Trucks loaded with supplies park along a road leading to Torkham. File

Islamabad accuses its neighbour of harbouring militants that launch cross-border attacks, charges the Afghan government denies.

"In response to formal requests from UN agencies... the government of Pakistan has approved a limited and specific humanitarian exception to allow movement of their containers to Afghanistan," a government official not authorised to speak to the media told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The supplies include food, medicine and medical equipment, and "other essential goods related to health and education," the official said.

The aid transfers will take place in "three phases," though the official did not specify when the first phase would begin.
A United Nations official also confirmed that the aid would soon be allowed to enter Afghanistan.

However, the head of the information department in Spin Boldak, an Afghan city near a key border crossing, told AFP: "We have no information about this yet and the gate at the border is closed."

The border has been closed since the conflict in October, with only Afghans being expelled from Pakistan allowed to cross.

The Pakistani official said that the border would remain closed to all trade, and that the partial reopening for aid was "conditional."

"Pakistan has not reopened the border for general trade or immigration with Afghanistan, nor has it restored Afghan Transit Trade," the official added.

Dozens of Afghan trucks were stranded with rotting produce and other items when the frontier was shut on October 12 due to deadly cross-border fire, which was followed by a fragile truce.

Losses have topped $100 million on both sides and up to 25,000 workers in the border regions have been affected, according to the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJCCI), which seeks to promote trade.

Pakistan is landlocked Afghanistan's biggest trading partner, supplying rice, pharmaceuticals and raw materials, while taking in 45 percent of Afghan exports last year, according to the World Bank.

Agence France-Presse / NNI News Service