Torkham Border Crossing
Published on 12 Oct 2025
The Pakistani and Afghan security forces traded fire at the recently closed main border crossing between the two countries, the Torkham border crossing.
Torkham borders Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.
It is along the Durand Line, the 2,640-kilometer (1,640-mile) international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It was established in 1893 through an agreement between Sir Mortimer Durand, a British diplomat of British India, and Abdur Rahman Khan, the then Emir of Afghanistan.
However, it controversially cut through the Pashtun tribal areas, dividing ethnic Pashtuns and Baloch people who have historically lived on both sides.
While Pakistan recognizes the Durand Line as its official border, Afghanistan has never officially accepted it as a legitimate international boundary, viewing it as a colonial-era imposition that divided their people.
