With tight security, Pakistan opened the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan for Afghan transit trade and other commercial activities.
Official sources said that 317 trucks loaded with dried fruits and other goods entered Afghanistan from Pakistan on Wednesday and Thursday under an import-export agreement.
After completing customs and other legal formalities, border officials allowed 300 long trucks carrying Afghan transit trade goods to enter Afghanistan, which had been waiting in Chaman for weeks, a senior Chaman administration official said.
The official said that 180 empty trucks from Afghanistan came to Pakistan.
The trucks were unloading transit goods in the Vish Mandi area of Afghanistan and waiting to return to Pakistan.
Zakaullah Durrani, a senior official at Chaman, told Dawn that the border had been opened only to restore Afghan transit trade and that other trade activities and pedestrians were not allowed to cross the border.
He said a high-level meeting in Chaman had decided to open the border for commercial purposes only.
The meeting was attended by Inspector General of Frontier Corps Major General Fayyaz Hussain Shah, Brigadier Liaqat, members of the Government Parliamentary Committee and representatives of workers and traders who reviewed the situation on the border and decided to open it.
It was decided at the meeting that the border crossing would be kept open for four days in a week.
However, representatives of workers who earn their livelihood by bringing small duty-free items from both sides of the border demanded that the border be kept open seven days a week for them and small traders.
Therefore, it was decided in the meeting that a decision in this regard would be taken in the next consultation with all the stakeholders.
It should be noted that the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan was closed on March 2 to prevent the spread of Corona virus in Pakistan.
Later, the Chaman border was reopened for a few occasions and days, but it did not reopen completely as usual, leaving large numbers of people waiting to cross the border.
Earlier, Pakistan had announced the resumption of Afghan transit trade through the Wagah border from July 15 under a transit trade agreement following the implementation of the Corona virus rules.
