At Pakistan’s Border With Afghanistan, People Wait To Cross From Both Sides

Enlarge this image

A Taliban guard stands on the Afghanistan side of Torkham, the border with Pakistan. People behind wait to leave or for those returning to Afghanistan.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

Taliban and people waiting in Afghanistan can be seen from the Pakistan border crossing at Torkham.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

The Taliban flag hangs on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in front of the mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

People wait on the Afghanistan side at Torkham border, either to leave the country or greet returnees.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

The border fencing between Pakistan and Afghanistan extends up the mountains near Torkham.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

A brightly painted truck passes through Torkham while a Pakistani guard watches.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

With border traffic at a standstill, men rest under a truck while waiting to get to Afghanistan.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

Razziq Mehmon (second from right) waits in Pakistan near the border to drive a truck loaded with cement bound for Jalalabad.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

Trucks line the road waiting to get through the border to Afghanistan

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

A gate at the Torkham border crossing.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

A Taliban guard (right) stands adjacent to a Pakistani guard on the Torkham border.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

People seeking medical attention wait on the border to enter Pakistan.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

The Taliban «have shown us what they are capable of in the past with how they flogged women or didn’t allow them to go to school,» says Rahmatullah Alakkozai, a doctor who traveled to Torkham from the the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

A Pakistani minibus arrives to transport people to and from the border.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

A boy on the Afghan side of the border awaits those returning to Afghanistan through Torkham.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Enlarge this image

Birds fly above Torkham.

hide caption

toggle caption

Claire Harbage/NPR

Birds fly above Torkham.

Claire Harbage/NPR

• torkham
• Pakistan
• Afghanistan