Nearly a weeklong closure of Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing disrupts trade, movement of people

abcnews.go.com:

Officials say a nearly week-long closure of a key crossing on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has disrupted bilateral trade and the movement of people

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A nearly weeklong closure of a key crossing on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border has disrupted bilateral trade and the movement of people, causing financial losses to traders and leaving people stranded in harsh winter conditions, officials said Thursday.

The Torkham border crossing has remained closed since Feb. 21 after Pakistan shut it down over a dispute concerning Afghanistan’s construction of a border post.

Since then, more than 5,000 trucks and vehicles carrying goods, including fruits and vegetables, have been stranded on both sides, awaiting the reopening of the trade route, according to Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, a director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Torkham also serves as a vital corridor for transporting goods between Pakistan and Central Asian countries, and Sarhadi urged both countries to resolve their dispute so that bilateral trade and movement of people could resume.

At Torkham, truck driver Najeeb Ullah said that he was forced to sleep in his vehicle because he can't leave it unguarded on the road.

“We request Pakistan and Afghanistan to have mercy on us, as we are suffering without any reason,” he told reporters.

Another driver, Mustafa Khan, said that he was hoping to return to his northwestern city of Peshawar after delivering a supply of cement in Afghan city Jalalabad, but “I am stuck here since Friday, and I have no idea for how many days we will have to face this trouble.”

Farhad Nusrat, an Afghan citizen, said that he was returning home with his mother and children, and the closure of the