ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has accused the Taliban of attempting to construct a border outpost on its territory near the Torkham border crossing, an issue that has further strained relations between the two neighbors.
Shafqat Ali Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, said Friday that the Taliban were unilaterally trying to establish the outpost and that Pakistan had urged them to address such disputes through formal diplomatic channels, including the Joint Coordination Committee.
“There are customs, immigration, security, and multiple government departments involved in managing the border,” Ali Khan told reporters. “Occasionally, misunderstandings arise—such as issues with documentation—but that does not mean there is a breakdown in commercial interactions between the two countries.”
The Torkham border, a key trade and transit route, has been closed for more than a week, leaving thousands of people and commercial trucks stranded on both sides.
Ali Khan also claimed that weapons left behind by U.S. forces in Afghanistan have fallen into the hands of militants carrying out attacks in Pakistan. “We have raised this issue with the international community and Afghan authorities,” he said, adding that Pakistan considers militant sanctuaries inside Afghanistan a major obstacle to progress in security cooperation.
The dispute over Torkham is the latest in a series of tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban, which have clashed over border management, cross-border militancy, and trade policies.
