PESHAWAR: At least 68 Pakistani students studying at colleges in Afghanistan crossed the Torkham border into their country on Saturday after receiving clearance from Pakistani authorities, ending months of uncertainty caused by strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul, students and officials said.
The students had been unable to return home after Pakistan tightened border controls amid deteriorating ties with Afghanistan since last October, when the two neighbors witnessed fierce border skirmishes that killed dozens of people on both sides. Subsequently, Pakistan shut down its border with Afghanistan to all movement, while calling off bilateral and transit trade.
Tensions between the two countries have continued to trigger sporadic cross-border military exchanges, with Pakistan accusing Afghanistan of sheltering militant groups responsible for attacking Pakistani civilians and security forces, an allegation Kabul denies.
“The Pakistani students who had been stranded in Afghanistan finally received permission from the Pakistani border authorities to cross into Pakistan,” Naheed Khan, a police officer in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber district bordering Afghanistan, told Arab News over the phone.
Hundreds of Pakistani students, most of them from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, pursue medical and other professional degrees at Afghan universities because of lower tuition costs and easier admission requirements than at many institutions in Pakistan.
Muhammad Noman, the representative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) students studying in Jalalabad, said Pakistani students had been in contact with authorities on both sides of the border for months to secure permission to return home.
“There are a large number of KP students studying in Afghanistan,” he said. “We had been in talks with both the Pakistani and Afghan authorities to allow us to return to Pakistan.”
Noman, a final-year Doctor of Medicine (MD) student in Afghanistan, said the Afghan authorities had already given the students written permission to cross the border.
“There was a delay in receiving clearance from the Pakistani side,” he told Arab News. “Last night, our students went to the border and spent the night there. This morning, Pakistani authorities allowed 68 students to cross.”
“Five more Pakistani students are expected to cross the border tomorrow,” he added.
