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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan Students Call for Reopening of Torkham Gate |
| 2021-10-11 |
| [ToloNews] Dozens of Afghan students on Sunday gathered in front of Pakistain’s embassy in Kabul to protest the recent shutting of Torkham Gate. Most of today’s protestors, who are studying in Pakistain, declared that they will miss a semester if the gate remains closed, adding that border area tensions should not affect their learning. "It is now four weeks that the gate is closed. We will miss the current semester if we don’t get there in four days," a protestor said. "It is a month since the universities started and we are stranded here. Some have visa problems ... there are many difficulties," another protestor said. After media news hounds were forbidden from covering today’s protest, the protestors filmed the gathering and sent it to the media. In the meantime, officials at the Ministry of Information and Culture announced that some efforts are underway to reopen Torkham and Spin Boldak’s gates. "We are willing to solve the problem. Both countries need to allow travel, we have to realize our necessities," said Zabiullah Mujahid, deputy minister of information and culture. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2021-10-11 11:42 |
| #1 "Nestled into the mountainous valley of the Khyber Pass, used by traders and invaders from Alexander the Great to the British Empire, Torkham became a route that U.S.-backed mujahedeen took into Afghanistan in the 1980s. It is part of a region "caught between various empires," says Sarfraz Khan, a University of Peshawar international relations professor. In recent years, Pakistan has tightened security. A 1,600-mile fence [!!] built in 2017 by the Pakistani military now climbs the dry, craggy mountain slopes and makes it harder to slip into Pakistan from Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Bertie Crains2651 2021-10-11 08:43 |