ISLAMABAD: Pakistan closed its key Torkham border with neighboring Afghanistan following Taliban's takeover the crossing point on Afghan side after capturing Jalalabad, the provincial capital of Nangarhar.

Talking to reporters, interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said that the decision to close Torkham border was made due to an extraordinary situation on the other side.

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He said that the border was closed when Afghan police surrendered to Taliban on Sunday morning, adding Pakistan had already said that it cannot bear any new wave of Afghan refugees in wake of crisis in the war-torn country.

The sources said that the crossing point has been closed for every kind of movement. Security has also been tightened over the presence of Taliban on other side of the border.

The Taliban took control of the key eastern city of Jalalabad, just hours after the seizing the northern anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-e-Sharif - furthering an astonishing rout of government forces and warlord militias achieved in just 10 days.

Jalalabad had a population of around 356,000 people as of 2014. The city is around 65 kilometers (40 miles) from the Pakistani Torkham border crossing, making it a center for international trade.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021