By The South Asia Times 

PESHAWAR - Tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan grew after recent border clashes as the main crossing transit point between the two neighboring countries remains closed for the fifth consecutive day. 

The Torkham border, connecting northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan with Nangarhar province of Afghanistan is the busy transit route between the two neighbors which has been closed since September 6. 

The border was closed after a clash between the two countries’ forces following the Afghan Taliban attempting to construct security posts near the border fencing with Pakistan.

According to Pakistani security officials, they repeatedly asked the Taliban border officials to refrain from constructing security checkpoints in prohibiting areas near their fencing but they opened firing instead of stopping its construction.  

However, on Saturday, the Afghan Foreign Ministry accused Pakistani forces of initiating firing against its border force while they were constructing security checkpoints. 

On the same day, September 6, Therik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a terrorist organization based in Afghanistan, hundreds of militants stormed border villages in the Chitral district of Pakistan and killed at least four Pakistani security personnel in the area. 

Chitral is considered one of the peaceful districts in the South Asian country.

On September 6, the Pakistani nation was celebrating their “Defense and Martyrs Day” and victory against India in the 1965 war. However, the Afghan Taliban and TTP carried out attacks on the day disturbing celebration events in some areas that caused huge anger across the nation.

According to Pakistani intelligence sources, at least 50 to 60 TTP militants were killed in Chitral, and the dead bodies were taken away by militants to Afghanistan. 

On Friday some local media reported that Pakistani forces carried out a bombing, and targeted the TTP hideouts near the Chitral border, however military and intelligence officials didn’t confirm any action yet. 

Since the Taliban returned to Kabul, terrorist attacks inside Pakistan have increased, and mostly TTP militants targeting civilians and Pakistani forces in border areas including North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Bannu, Lakki Mawrat, Khyber District, Bajaur, Dir and Chitral. 

Last month, Pakistan's civilian and military leadership warned the Afghan Taliban to stop TTP from using their soil against Islamabad, however, the Afghan Taliban denied the presence of TTP in their country.

The repeated denial of the Afghan Taliban and continuous attacks of TTP have increased tension between the two neighbors and Pakistan closed its main border with the landlocked Afghanistan which put the Taliban into trouble as the closure of the main transit point could create a shortage of daily commodities in their country. 

The border closure also created trouble for Afghan passengers as hundreds of them are stuck on both sides of the border while hundreds of vehicles with goods were also parked on the roads.

“Muhammad Yasin, about 8 years old Afghan died of cancer in a hospital in Peshawar on Thursday, but his body could not be shifted to Afghanistan due to the gate being closed at Torkham.. On humanitarian grounds, the dead body of the child should be allowed to pass through Torkham,” Tahir Khan, a Pakistani journalist wrote on X, formerly Twitter. 

On Friday, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said that Islamabad has conveyed its concerns to the Afghan interim government following recent attacks and engaged with them regarding the closure of the border.

“We have communicated our concerns about the latest incident to the Interim Afghan Authorities. We expect them to fulfill their obligations and to deny the use of Afghan soil by the terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan,” said Mumtaz Baloch, spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry. 

“We have shared our concerns with regards to the terrorist threat against Pakistan that emanates from the Afghan soil. This dialogue will continue. All these concerns and developments are relevant to the opening or closure of the border as well,” she added.