Pakistan-Afghanistan border road closed

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KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The Torkham gate at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was closed after Pakistani truck drivers protested the alleged torture of two drivers by Afghan officials.

The road, the busiest entry point between the two countries, was closed by Pakistan Friday after complaints that two Pakistani drivers were intercepted at a checkpoint, tortured and had their passports torn up, Dawn.com, the website of an English-language Pakistani newspaper, said.

Drivers complained Afghan security personnel routinely engage in harassment and torture of drivers and job-seekers at checkpoints within Afghanistan, the Afghan news website Khaama Press reported Friday.

The actions come after at least 29 Afghans were beaten, and their travel documents defaced, near the Torkham gate, in apparent retaliation for a similar incident last week against Pakistani workers, Khaama Press said..