Pakistan closes Afghan border crossings for 2 days

The Pakis­tan government has announced the closure of all border crossings with Afghanistan for two days in view of the fourth presidential election being held in the war-torn country on Saturday.

Meanwhile, enhanced security checks of pedestrians and trading vehicles were started from Thursday and the process will continue till Sunday, reports Dawn news.

"In view of the upcoming presidential election and in support of domestic transition in Afghanistan, it has been decided to enhance security along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Thursday.

The statement further said that in this regard, strict security check of all pedestrians and trading vehicles had been ordered from Thursday to Sunday, whereas the closure of all passage ways/cargo terminals (except for emergency patients) would be done on Friday and Saturday.

The presidential election, which is taking place weeks after the collapse of the US-Taliban peace process, has been overshadowed by fears of Taliban violence on voting day.

In a statement issued last month, the Taliban had pledged to disrupt polls and denounced the electoral process as a "sham".