Officials of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment in Nangarhar as well as drivers called on Pakistan to not close the Torkham crossing to commercial goods under various pretexts.

They say due to the closure of the crossing, millions of afghani will be lost to the merchants and drivers on both sides.

“Pakistan always closes the gate for transit and investment with various excuses,” said Shakerullah Safi, spokesman of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment of Nangarhar.

“The Pakistanis are harassing us, and we are very worried about the commuting,” said Akhtar Wali, a driver.

“Pakistan closes this way for many ordinary issues, it should not be closed for these petty issues because it will cause a lot of loss to both the businessmen and us,” said Bashir Khan, a driver.

The Torkham crossing has been temporarily blocked by Pakistan since last Tuesday, as they demanded visas from Afghan drivers to enter Pakistan.

The local officials of Nangarhar said that the problem of requesting visas and passports from Afghan drivers has been solved by the Pakistani government and now the crossing is open for all traffic.

“The Pakistani side closed the gate of Torkham due to the fact that truck drivers must have passports and visas…,” said Qazi Mullah Adil, spokesman of the Nangarhar governor.

more than a month ago, the Torkham crossing was blocked for 9 days after tension between the forces of the Islamic Emirate and the Pakistani side, which cost many merchants millions of Afghanis.