Link to article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/15/key-afghanistan-pakistan-border-crossing-reopens-after-nine-days
The Torkham crossing, the gateway between Afghanistan and Pakistan, was closed on September 6th, 2023. This crossing allows a great amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic to pass through. Pakistan decided to close the crossing after shots were fired between the Pakistani and Afghan border forces. The forces had a dispute about the construction of a check post along the crossing. The shooting left two Afghan soldiers dead and several wounded. Pakistan blamed the closing of the Torkham and the injured on Afghans and are accusing them of belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban. However the Afghans fought back saying that the forces were just fixing old posts and the Pakistani forces opened fire on them. After nine days they decided to reopen, allowing the traffic to flow again.
The closing of Torkham created lots of delays for both countries. They had thousands of individuals trying to reach their families or trying to transport items between countries. In just a week, Pakistan already felt the impact of closing the border with a loss of $1 million. In Afghanistan the citizens started protests. The protesting Afghans believed that Pakistan was closing the border too much and that they were doing it for unjust reasons. They claimed the closings were during fruit seasons to purposely cause issues in Afghanistan. The September 6th closure was likely caused by the past resentment the countries have for one another and due to the closing the security at the crossing was increased.
This dispute illustrates the negative relations states can have with one another and highlights how the citizens can be directly impacted by their governments decisions. The Pakistani government is a pseudo-democracy which offers little choice for the citizens and the Afghanistan government is an Islamic Republic which gives the Taliban majority of the power, again, leaving the citizens very little say in decisions made. Political participation is very important to improve trust between the government and citizens and allow for well thought out decisions to be made.