Ahmad Nabi
LANDI KOTAL: Thousands of Afghan nationals trapped in Landi Kotal threaten spread of coronavirus here in Landi Kotal.
Hundreds of thousands Afghan citizens including women and children, traveled to Landi Kotal from various areas of Pakistan to cross the Torkham border to their native country but the Afghan government on pretext of lacking of quarantine facilities refused to allow them to come in to Afghanistan.
The local administration official told that stranded Afghanis had taken refuge in mosques, verandas and streets under an open sky in Landi Kotal bazaar and beside the officials local philanthropists provided them food and water.
Keeping the congested population of the Afghan national under one roof posed spread of the deadly coronvirus but in the prevailed situation they had no other option to look after the numberless Afghanistan bound Afghanis, the official added.
According to the Pak border security officials they repeatedly asked the their counterpart at Torkham border to permit their citizens to cross the border in their motherland, Afghanistan but they declined their request on excuse that they could not accommodate huge number of COVID 19 suspected Afghanis.
The trapped Afghanis requested the Pak and Afghan governments to have mercy on them in the month of Ramadan and let them to move to their country as they had expended what they had in their pockets and compelling them to sell their mobile phones and other valuables to meet their expenses, staying in Landi Kotal bazaar.
