Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban, announced that the group will not reopen the border crossings with Pakistan until Islamabad provides a ‘strong guarantee’.
He accused Pakistan of using trade and transit routes between Afghanistan and Pakistan ‘as a tool for political and economic pressure.
Mujahid emphasized that Pakistan must provide a strong guarantee that it will not close the border crossings again; otherwise, these crossings will not be reopened.
The Taliban spokesperson added that Afghanistan’s needs are now being met from ‘other countries,’ and the group does not want the border crossings with Pakistan to be ‘misused’ again.
Pakistan said yesterday that it plans to reopen the Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings for the transfer of United Nations humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. The Taliban spokesperson’s statement did not specify whether the group would make an exception in this regard.
Pakistan stated that it is reopening these crossings at the request of the United Nations to transfer aid materials.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce has instructed the country’s officials to facilitate the movement of trucks carrying humanitarian cargo to Afghanistan.
First, containers carrying food supplies, then containers carrying medicine and medical gear, and in the third step, educational packages for students and teachers, and other materials will be permitted to enter Afghanistan.
74 containers from UNICEF, 67 containers from the World Food Program, and 2 containers from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are planned to be transferred from Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Disagreements are Temporary
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s former Special Representative for Afghanistan, said that the current tensions between the Taliban and Islamabad are temporary and experience has shown they do not last long.
He added: ‘Trade and movement of people between the two countries will be resumed. Governments may come and go, but the people on both sides of the border (boundary line) are one. They love each other, and this should be a reason for having a strong relationship in the future.
