The Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan has been closed again to all movement, Taliban officials in eastern Nangarhar province said on Friday, a day after it briefly reopened to allow a small number of migrants to return.
Quraishi Badlon, Taliban’s head of information department in Nangarhar, said Pakistan had shut the crossing to “all traffic,” without providing further details.
Pakistani media, citing security sources, reported that the closure followed an incident in which a Pakistani soldier was wounded by gunfire from Afghanistan side of the border. Pakistani authorities have not issued an official statement.
The crossing had reopened only briefly the previous day, allowing a limited number of Afghan migrants to return. Taliban officials at Torkham said about 50 people crossed back into Afghanistan during that period.
The Torkham crossing was closed for migrants for almost 20 days before the brief reopening. It has remained closed for trade and transit over the past four months amid ongoing Taliban-Pakistan tensions.
Some of those migrants described arrests and forced deportations in Pakistan, saying they had faced mounting pressure before being expelled.
The renewed closure underscores the volatility of the crossing, which has been repeatedly disrupted in recent weeks amid rising tensions and clashes between Taliban and Pakistani troops.
The crossing had been closed for weeks following border violence, while commercial trade through the route has largely been suspended for about four months.
Even as fighting has intermittently subsided, the situation at Torkham remains uncertain, leaving migrants and traders facing continued disruption.
