Summary The move is part of a comprehensive project to secure Duran Line.
KHYBER AGENCY (Web Desk / AP) – Under the first border management system at Torkham border in Khyber Agency, the Afghan citizens without valid travel documents have been barred from crossing into Pakistan.
The move is part of a comprehensive project to secure 2,640-kilometer (2,640-mile) Durand Line, named for British diplomat Mortimer Durand, who drew the now internationally recognized border in an agreement with Afghan ruler Abdur Raham Khan in 1893. But the modern Afghan government has never accepted the border, and neither have the mainly tribal communities that straddle it. They are accustomed to moving back and forth freely and in some cases own land on both sides.
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 people cross the border daily on either side at Torkham without proper travel documentation.
On Tuesday, the Pakistani authorities made announcement on loudspeakers that no Afghan citizen will be allowed to cross into Pakistan without a valid passport. The Afghan authorities were formally acknowledged about the decision.
On May 10, tension at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border escalated over the fencing of a 2km area at the Torkham crossing which was stopped by the Afghan forces. The border crossing remain closed for four days and Pakistani officials had insisted that it would remain shut until Afghanistan takes back its objection to the fencing.
Pakistan said there is infiltration of fighters from the Afghanistan side and fencing of the border was the only immediate solution to keep a check on the people crossing the border.
