Islamabad [Pakistan] : A strike was observed at the key border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Friday against the closure of the border by the Taliban, local media reported. The strike was called by All Parties Traders Alliance at the Chaman border area after the closure of the Pak-Afghan border for more than two weeks, Dawn reported. Several rounds of negotiations between Afghan officials and border authorities of Pakistan for reopening the border have remained fruitless, the Pakistani publication reported. A delegation headed by Kandahar Governor Mullah Yousaf Wafa also held talks with Pakistani authorities at Spin Boldak, but Afghan authorities refused to open the border until Afghan nationals are allowed to cross into Pakistan on Afghan Teskera (identity card), Dawn reported. Pakistani border authorities said that they had not closed the border at Chaman but it was a decision taken by Afghan officials in Kandahar. Leaders of the All Parties Traders Alliance Lala Jan Achakzai and Sadiq Achakzai said the business community was facing huge financial loss due to the closure of the border for the past 17 days. They said prices of goods, including fresh fruits and vegetables, had gone up in the local markets as supplies from Afghanistan had been suspended, Dawn reported. “Thousands of daily-wage workers who earn their livelihood on both sides of the border have become jobless and they have no other means to earn their bread and butter,” they said, adding that several thousands of Pakistani and Afghan nationals, including patients, had also been struck up at Chaman and the Vesh Mandi areas. They said restrictions on the pedestrians on both sides should be removed and they should be allowed border crossing on the national identity cards of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Pakistani publication reported.
