Chaman, Pakistan - Thousands of Afghans have entered Pakistan through the Spin Boldak/Chaman border crossing in Afghanistan's southeast after the Afghan … Combining searing personal accounts of battles and betrayals with moving portraits of the ordinary Afghans who were caught up in the conflict for more than a decade, The Wrong Enemy is a sweeping account of a war brought by American leaders ... TORKHAM, Pakistan — Although the Kabul airport has opened again to international flights, many Afghans are still trying to flee overland, through major border crossings like the one in Torkham, Pakistan. The ISPR DG said there was chance of instability on Afghan border, therefore, regular troops of Pakistan Army were deployed to ensure well-managed border security. hide caption. Uncertainty after the Taliban seized power has helped create a backlog of deliveries, and brightly painted cargo trucks carrying everything from onions to construction materials can wait days to cross the border. In recent years, Pakistan has tightened security. Pakistan says it cannot take more Afghan refugees, but it does let in Afghans who are seeking medical care or who have documents to travel onward. Sign up to get important news and culture from around the Northwest, delivered to your inbox six days a week. On this day, the stowaways are discovered. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah … Some try to sneak over the border crossing. The Taliban are pressing on with their surge in Afghanistan, saying Wednesday that they seized Spin Boldaka, a strategic border crossing with Pakistan — the latest in a series of key border post . The border fencing between Pakistan and Afghanistan extends up the mountains near Torkham. Trade with Afghanistan and Afghan transit trade had resumed two weeks ago through the Chaman border when Pakistan opened its side of the crossing following … Separately, three persons, including a man and his wife, were killed in separate incidents on Monday. KHAN: Where right now you are sitting, just a kilometer (ph) away, you have a place known as Torkham. Hosted by Anica Colbert and produced by KPBS, San Diego and the Imperial County's NPR and PBS station. The border fencing between Pakistan and Afghanistan extends up the mountains near Torkham. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption, A Taliban guard (right) stands adjacent to a Pakistani guard at the Torkham border crossing. His country has been at war his entire life. Some try to sneak over the border crossing. The Pakistan Minister further informed that the border between the two nations was long and porous, and Pakistan was moving towards completing fencing along the border areas amid the Afghanistan crisis. One Taliban guard wears a crisp green uniform with the blue patch of the former Afghan National Police, the old U.S.-backed force. Be a part of it. He claimed that steps had been taken to check the militants' movement across the border stating that the country could not bear any load of new . Pakistan says it cannot take more Afghan refugees, but it does let in Afghans who are seeking medical care or who have documents to travel onward. On this day, the stowaways are discovered. ", There are others at this crossing who cross in the opposite direction. The Taliban invaded and seized control of Kabul on August 15, prompting thousands of the city's residents to evacuate the city via Hamid Karzai International Airport. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid defended the move, alleging . TORKHAM BORDER — As the Taliban took over Kabul, cementing its power in Afghanistan, this border crossing with Pakistan tentatively resumed operations. To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader. A Pakistani minibus arrives to transport people to and from the border. Trucks line the road waiting to get through the border to Afghanistan. A 1,600-mile fence built in 2017 by the Pakistani military now climbs the dry, craggy mountain slopes and makes it harder to slip into Pakistan from Afghanistan. Since 2002, destroying the terrorist threat and closing the terrorist safe haven along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan have been key national security goals. Uncertainty after the Taliban seized power has helped create a backlog of deliveries, and brightly painted cargo trucks carrying everything from onions to construction materials can wait days to cross the border. Taliban members and people waiting in Afghanistan can be seen from the Pakistani side of the border crossing at Torkham. Nestled into the mountainous valley of the Khyber Pass, used by traders and invaders from Alexander the Great to the British Empire, Torkham became a route that U.S.-backed mujahedeen took into Afghanistan in the 1980s. Pakistan on Tuesday reopened a key border crossing with neighboring Afghanistan for pedestrian movement, an official said. After the Soviets attacked his home village, his family fled and never returned. Found insideA collection of articles written from 1989 to 2009, updated for this volume. As neighboring Afghanistan plunges further into conflict, Pakistani officials fear fighting and refugees will surge across the border. The Taliban "have shown us what they are capable of in the past, with how they flogged women or didn't allow them to go to school," he says. For decades, Pakistan has served as a sanctuary for . They're still in Afghanistan, internally displaced, their lives on hold. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. There are six official border crossings and trade terminals between Afghanistan and Pakistan, although numerous unofficial barter trading and illegal border crossings used by locals, smugglers and terrorists exist. Razziq Mehmon (second from right) waits in Pakistan near the border to drive a truck loaded with cement bound for Jalalabad, Afghanistan. People arriving from Afghanistan gather after they cross into Pakistan at the Friendship Gate crossing point, in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, Sept. 6, 2021. Pakistan army completes 90% of fence along Afghan border. Just a few metres away from the border, Ahsan Khan, 56, was busy taking out his luggage from a taxi. The Torkham border crossing is located about 140 miles east of Kabul, Afghanistan's national capital and seat of government. While stuck, some truckers roll out carpets for an afternoon nap under the shade of their vehicles or gather with other drivers for tea. Found insideThe Unraveling is the clearest account yet of the complex, dangerous relationship between the leaders of Pakistan and jihadist groups—and how the rulers' decisions have led their nation to the brink of disaster and put other nations at ... Torkham border - one of the two main crossings between the two . People seeking medical attention wait on the border to enter Pakistan. A group of Afghan kids, nabbed by Pakistani inspectors, sits by the Pakistani checkpoint holding burlap sacks full of cartons of cigarettes. Taliban fighters in Afghanistan seized control of a major border crossing with Pakistan on Wednesday, one of the most important objectives they have achieved so … He says he fears for the future of Afghanistan, even though "things seem fine" at the moment. Supporters of the Taliban carry the Taliban's signature white flags in the Afghan-Pakistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan, Wednesday, July 14, 2021. He shared that Pakistan had been reaching out to the Afghan government to formalise a border control mechanism to deal with the "instability" along the Pak-Afghan border. Sir Mortimer Durand had drawn this line in 1893 between Afghanistan and then British India, which later got divided into two countries India and Pakistan in 1947. THE BROOKINGS ESSAY: In the spirit of its commitment to high-quality, independent research, the Brookings Institution has commissioned works on major topics of public policy by distinguished authors, including Brookings scholars. Pakistan on Monday reopened a major southwestern border crossing with Afghanistan that is currently under Taliban control on the Afghan side, Pakistani customs … The Afghan military commander requested refuge at the border crossing in Chitral in the north, the Pakistan army said in a statement, adding safe passage into Pakistan was given on Sunday night . That is the border check post between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Current . The Afghanistan-China border is a 76-kilometre-long (47 mi) boundary between Afghanistan and China, beginning at the tripoint of both countries with the Pakistan-administrated region of Kashmir (Gilgit-Baltistan), following the watershed along the Mustagh Range, and ending at the tripoint with Tajikistan.This short border is in the far northeast of Afghanistan, distant from much of the . His country has been at war his entire life. He says he fears for the future of Afghanistan, even though "things seem fine" at the moment. The Taliban are claiming towns and territories across Afghanistan.With each victory, scrutiny is falling on the leaders of neighboring Pakistan. The Taliban "have shown us what they are capable of in the past with how they flogged women or didn't allow them to go to school," says Rahmatullah Alakkozai, a doctor who traveled to Torkham from the the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Pakistan's military says it has completed 90% of a fence being constructed along the border with … Islamabad [ Pakistan ], August 26 (ANI): Pakistan 's export business has been affected since Taliban seized . hide caption. Copyright 2021 NPR. Pakistan has a 1,046-kilometre (650-mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and . While stuck, some truckers roll out carpets for an afternoon nap under the shade of their vehicles or gather with other drivers for tea. All border crossings are now heavily manned, making it impossible for Afghan refugees to enter without government consent. Pakistan's trade disrupted with Afghanistan via Torkham border since Taliban's takeover. 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A 1,600-mile barrier, set to be finished this year, has improved security in Pakistan. The Troubled Afghan-Pakistani Border. Currently, more than 90 per cent of Pakistan's over 2,500-kilometer border with Afghanistan has been fenced and only about a dozen crossing points allow entry to those having valid travel documents. Pakistan's strategy of helping the Taliban stemmed from long fears concerning Afghanistan, some of which have existed since Pakistan became a state in 1947. 6 p.m. Premieres Friday, Sept. 17, 2021 at 9 p.m. & Sunday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. on KPBS 2 / On Demand, Taliban Mark Afghanistan's Independence Day As Challenges To Their Rule Rise, 4 Reasons A Potential Taliban Takeover In Afghanistan Matters To The World, The Taliban Say They've Changed. More than 1.4 million Afghan refugees are registered in Pakistan, according to UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency, and there are more who are undocumented. But the Torkham border crossing is patrolled by armed Pakistani military and Taliban guards and is flanked by Taliban flags. The region encompassing Afghanistan and Pakistan (Af/Pak region) is undergoing a fundamental strategic change. This book analyses the nature of this strategic change, in ordre to seek possible future scenarios and to examine policy options. A boy on the Afghan side of the border awaits those returning to Afghanistan through Torkham. hide caption. Get local stories on politics, education, health, environment, the border and more. They are child smugglers who slip into the giant cargo trucks, hiding in the toolbox, the spare tire well. New Delhi: Female footballers from Afghanistan along with their families crossed the Torkham border to reach Pakistan on Tuesday night after the government issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them from their country following the Taliban takeover, Dawn reported. It was easier for militants to return to Afghanistan after launching attacks inside Pakistan, Pakistani officials say…. FILE - Families wait to cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan border point in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, March 7, 2017. Acrobat Reader. They are child smugglers who slip into the giant cargo trucks, hiding in the toolbox, the spare tire well. Many in Pakistan welcome the Taliban's attempts to wrest Kabul. In recent years, Pakistan has tightened security. Once enough of them are rounded up, a border official whistles them over. A brightly painted truck passes through Torkham while a Pakistani guard watches. The longest border in Afghanistan, located to its southeast, is shared with Pakistan. A crowd waving Taliban flags shouts slogans in celebration during a rally in the Pakistani city of Chaman, on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, on Aug. 31, after the U.S. military withdrawal from . The Durand Line (Pak-Afghan border) gained international attention during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Based on a tip-off, the soldiers launched a cordon and search operation in the tribal district of South Waziristan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The Diplomat claims that the presence of terrorists belonging to Tehrik-i . The road that leads out of Pakistan and into Afghanistan appears open. He believes Afghanistan is safer now that the Americans are gone. The children grab their sacks and hurry back across to Afghanistan. A group of Afghan kids, nabbed by Pakistani inspectors, sits by the Pakistani checkpoint holding burlap sacks full of cartons of cigarettes. Afghanistan: Taliban fighters armed with knuckle dusters and whips guard Pakistan's Torkham border. Now, he says, there is "no signal of dropping bombs from the helicopters and planes.". Razziq Mehmon (second from right) waits in Pakistan near the border to drive a truck loaded with cement bound for Jalalabad. With U.S. evacuation efforts completed, thousands of Afghan refugees are gathering at the Pakistan border in an attempt to escape the Taliban, overwhelming local … "The Human Rights Watch report, "Closed Door Policy: Afghan Refugees in Pakistan and Iran," cautions against a hasty repatriation of Afghan refugees while conditions in Afghanistan remain unstable. Securing, stabilizing, and developing Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan : key issues for congressional oversight : report to congressional requesters. Nestled into the mountainous valley of the Khyber Pass, used by traders and invaders from Alexander the Great to the British Empire, Torkham became a route that U.S.-backed mujahedeen took into Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Durand Line, the western border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was delineated in 1893 as the boundary between then British India and Afghanistan. hide caption. Claire Harbage/NPR Pakistan says it cannot take more Afghan refugees, but it does let in Afghans who are seeking medical care or who have documents to travel onward. Dozens of Afghan soldiers have slipped across the border into northwestern Pakistan after their border post was overrun, apparently by the . They, too, are waiting. A Pakistani minibus arrives to transport people to and from the border. A Pakistani minibus arrives to transport people to and from the border. Stranded people crossing the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Chaman [Jafar Khan/AP Photo] Pakistan has two main border crossings with Afghanistan, at Torkham in the northwest and Chaman . Pakistan officials have expressed fears that about a million more would rush into the country if border regulations were relaxed. The Taliban "have shown us what they are capable of in the past, with how they flogged women or didn't allow them to go to school," says Rahmatullah Alakkozai, a doctor who traveled to Torkham from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. TORKHAM, Pakistan — The Taliban flag flies on one side of the border. Taliban members and people waiting in Afghanistan can be seen from the Pakistani side of the border crossing at Torkham. Once enough of them are rounded up, a border official whistles them over. ", There are others at this crossing who cross in the opposite direction. hide caption. Claire Harbage/NPR A Taliban guard stands on the Afghanistan side of Torkham, the border with Pakistan. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The border fencing between Pakistan and Afghanistan extends up the mountains near Torkham. A Taliban guard stands on the Afghanistan side of Torkham, the border with Pakistan. Claire Harbage/NPR On this day, the stowaways are discovered. Increasing militant activity in western Pakistan poses three key national security threats: an increased potential for major attacks against the United States itself a growing threat to Pakistani stability: and a hindrance of U.S. efforts ... At Pakistan's Border With Afghanistan, People Wait To Cross From Both Sides. hide caption. They are child smugglers who slip into the giant cargo trucks, hiding in the toolbox, the spare tire well. Not even a painted line separates the two countries. He said that after August 15 . Image: Claire Harbage/NPR A Taliban guard (right) stands adjacent to a Pakistani guard on the Torkham border. Pakistan says it is erecting the fence to stop the movement of Pakistani Taliban, remnants of al-Qaida, and other foreign militants who prior to the fence's construction could easily launch cross-border attacks on both sides. Those who make it across to Pakistan undetected sell their goods in the Torkham border town. On the other is the Pakistani military — and hope for freedom for terrified Afghans. People behind wait either to leave Afghanistan or to receive those returning to the country. OPB’s critical reporting and inspiring programs are made possible by the power of member support. Forty-six soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Border Police were granted "refuge and safe passage" by the Pakistan Army on Sunday, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR . Child smugglers who slip into the US-Pakistan partnership under the Reagan administration by reCAPTCHA and the United States ' to... And perspectives ( ph ) away, you have a place known as Torkham who slip into the giant trucks! Their drivers wait to cross the Afghanistan-Pakistan barrier '' at the Torkham border crossing border. 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