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The Pakistan government has agreed to allow the passage of humanitarian consignments to Afghanistan. This marks the first controlled re-opening of transit trade after nearly two months of a border halt between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistani news website Dawn reported on Thursday. The move follows a discussion with the UN resident coordinator in Pakistan.
Routine trade between the two nations was suspended on October 11 after military clashes between the two nations prompted Islamabad to seal all routes.
An official letter was issued to the Federal Board of Revenue and the Directorate General of Transit Trade to initiate the movement belonging to three United Nations agencies through the border crossings at Chaman and Torkham.
According to the letter, the movement of goods will proceed in three stages.
In the first phase, covering food shipments, a total of 143 containers of humanitarian goods will be allowed to pass. These include 67 containers of food assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP), 74 containers of children’s supplies from UNICEF, and two containers of healthcare and family-support items from UNFPA.
The second phase will cover medicine and medical equipment, and the third will cover items for education services.
An official noted that this reopening applies to only humanitarian ATT cargos and not is not a restoration of regular trade.
The suspension not only had halted trade, but also affected the livelihoods of truck drivers and custom workers in Chaman and Torkham, with hundreds of vehicles parked along the routes during the closure.
In November, Pakistan had partially reopened the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan to allow Afghan refugees to return to their country, according to authorities, news agency PTI reported.
In terms of cargo, Dawn reported, at least 495 vehicles are queued for border crossing at Torkham and Chaman. Majority of 412 vehicles are stranded at Chaman, the remaining 83 are held up at Torkham.
