Daily Times

Crossing at Pak-Afghan Torkham border was suspended on Wednesday for entry of non-Pakistani citizens. Deputy Commissioner, Khyber Mansoor Arshad while sharing details said that with the purpose to control the spread of Covid 19, the government ordered the Torkham border closing, that will be in effect from 6:00 pm, May 05 to May 20, 2021.

He said that non-Pakistani will be not allowed to cross into Pakistan but any Pakistani citizen having passport will be allowed to enter the country.

In the same way only Afghan nationals will be permitted to move to Afghanistan via the Torkham border and no Pakistani will be allowed to go to Afghanistan.

The district top official further said that a corona test of all Pakistan nationals coming into the country through Torkham will be conducted and in case of positive cases, the patient will be quarantined in Landi Kotal and Jamrud hospitals.

In addition, wearing a face is a must while entering into Pakistan, the official added.

As per health officials, all test facilities have been placed in Torkham to conduct tests of coming Pakistani passengers within ten minutes.

According to border security force, transportation of export and import will continue as usual on both side of the border round the clock seven days a week, however corona tests of suspect drivers will be carried out to trace the Covid 19 effecteees, he said.

Earlier, a meeting of officials of all concerned departments was held in Torkham to take necessary steps to materialize the guideline formulated by the NCOC.

The local administration posted warning banners at different sites in Torkham, directing the pedestrians to strictly follow corona Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) in the best interest of them.

It is to be mentioned here that on May 01, 2021,in a meeting of the National Command and Operation Center, Government of Pakistan, it was decided to restrict pedestrian movements on Western borders with Afghanistan and Iran, which are aimed to restrict import of the deadly virus into the country.