The elderly man who attempted to cross the Torkham border on July 2 but was barred from doing so by Pakistani forces, and afterwards killed himself by running himself under a car, was an Afghan national, according to officials of the Taliban administration’s embassy in Pakistan.
Sardar Ahmad Khan Shekib, chargé d’affaires of the Taliban administration’s embassy in Islamabad, told reporters, “An Afghan, who was standing among hundreds of other Afghans and wanted to show his ID card, out of necessity and despair, threw himself under a car and was martyred.”
The Taliban embassy in Pakistan also shared Sardar Ahmed Shakib’s statements on its Twitter page, in which he condemned the situation of Afghans in Torkham border and urged Pakistani authorities to address the situation.
In contrast, the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul, in a statement released yesterday, stated that the man in question was a Pakistani national who also happened to be the father of Pakistani journalist.
Reports and videos from earlier that day that were widely circulated showed a man hurling himself under a car. According to reports, the Pakistani police had demanded payment in cash in order to let him passage; however, the individual was reportedly unable to pay and killed himself as a result.
This is another another instance of conflicting accounts of the same event, but it does highlight the persistent complaints that Afghans continue to be harassed by Pakistani forces in Torkham and Spin Boldak.
