Pak-Afghan Highway closure brings woes for people

LANDIKOTAL: All Khyber Teachers Association has called upon the government to reopen the Pak-Afghan Highway which has been closed for a week and is affecting both life routine and educational pursuits.

Shareefullah Afridi, the president of the association, said the road blockade had disturbed daily life, hiked fuel prices and created a shortage of essential goods apart from the closure of girls schools in Landikotal.

The Kukikhel tribesmen have closed the highway at Bagyarri checkpost to force the government to allow the displaced people to return to their native Rajgal area of the Tirah Valley.He said approximately 15,000 girl students’ education had been affected as teachers, who commute from Peshawar are unable to reach schools.

The ongoing Pak-Afghan Highway closure at Bagyarri checkpost has stuck up a large number of trucks and led to a shortage of food items.Shareefullah Afridi said road blockade had halted a free flow of traffic, affecting around 80 percent of woman teachers who commute daily from Peshawar to Landikotal to perform duty at 53 state-run schools, including primary, middle, high and higher secondary levels.

He said petrol prices in Landikotal had surged to Rs 320 per liter and essential commodities like ghee, cooking oil, sugar and flour had gone short in Landikotal. All markets in Sultankhel, Landikotal and Torkham have been shut for a week.

Thousands of loaded and empty trucks have been stranded on the road including more than 200 trucks carrying tomatoes worth around three million rupees each from Afghanistan.Some trucks, attempting alternative routes through Shalman and Mulagory mountains overturned, causing further financial losses.

A tragic incident occurred recently when a woman, critically injured, died after her vehicle was stuck in the Bagyari sit-in camp on its way to the hospital. A jirga consisting of Afghanistan Shinwari and Mohmand tribe elders, traders met Kukikhel tribe elders at the Bagyarri checkpost.