Pakistan has reopened the Torkham border crossing after 20 days, solely to facilitate the deportation of undocumented Afghan nationals residing in the country.
Hundreds of Afghan refugees reached the Torkham border to return to Afghanistan, but the crossing remains closed for trade and pedestrian movement, officials confirmed.
According to Khyber Deputy Commissioner Bilal Shahid, the border has been opened exclusively for the removal of illegal Afghan residents. He said hundreds of Afghan nationals had already arrived at the Torkham immigration centre, where officials were completing documentation before allowing them to cross into Afghanistan.
The deputy commissioner clarified that the border crossing would remain closed for all trade and pedestrian traffic until further orders.
He recalled that Pakistan shut the Torkham border for all movement on 11 October following heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, UNHCR spokesperson Qaiser Khan Afridi said that as of 8 October, more than 615,000 undocumented Afghan nationals had been expelled through the Torkham crossing.
