Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: Pakistani officials on Tuesday said they as a goodwill gesture relaxed Torkham border crossing for Afghan citizens to cross the border and celebrate Eid in Afghanistan with their families.
The additional director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) posted in Torkham informed this scribe that, on the orders of higher authorities, they had set up various facilitation centres in Torkham. He mentioned that Afghan citizens returning to Afghanistan during Eid were allowed to cross the border without a visa or other legal documents. Even those who had been residing illegally in Pakistan were permitted to return to Afghanistan. Afghan individuals holding Afghan national identity cards (Tazkira) were also allowed to celebrate Eid in Afghanistan.
To accommodate the increased number of passengers, additional staff members were deployed in Torkham, and a fast-track system was implemented to expedite the entry of passengers into Afghanistan so they could reach their homes quickly. The FIA offices would remain open for the next two days. In the past three days, more than thirty thousand Afghan citizens have returned to Afghanistan, and it is anticipated that another twenty thousand will leave Pakistan in the next two days.
As Afghanistan celebrates Eid today (Wednesday) in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, thousands of Afghan nationals in Pakistan are making their way to Afghanistan.
Yasar Arafat stated that the border restrictions would be eased until Thursday night at 12 am to allow the maximum number of passengers to take advantage of the opportunity. However, after Eid, no passenger will be permitted to enter Pakistan without proper travel documents. Those wishing to visit Pakistan must obtain a visa from the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul. The processing of individuals returning individually is handled separately, while families with children, elderly individuals, and women are facilitated through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) facilitation centre.
Two Afghan citizens, Ghafar and Haji Khan, who were returning to their country, expressed their gratitude to the Pakistani authorities for the excellent facilities provided. Please note that there might be minor grammatical errors in the original text, but I have corrected them in the response.
