Pakistan reopens Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan

Pak-Afghan border at Chaman. (AFP/File)

• Islamabad closed border crossings with Afghanistan at the request of the Afghan government
• Afghanistan held its third parliamentary elections since 2001 on Saturday

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reopened its Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan on Sunday, state media reported.
Islamabad had closed two main border crossings —  Chaman and Torkham — with Afghanistan on Friday for two days, at the request of the Afghan government.
“The decision has been taken to support Afghanistan in the smooth conduct of the upcoming Parliamentary elections in the country,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
On Saturday, Afghanistan held it third parliamentary elections since 2001. 
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke to his Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani on the phone on Friday and said, “These elections are an important landmark for the strengthening of democracy in the country, which remains the key to achieving sustainable peace and progress in Afghanistan.”