| Duration | 18 April 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | Torkham, Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan |
| Cause | Thunder and lightning storm |
| Deaths | 7 [1] |
| Missing | "dozens" |
On 18 April 2023, a landslide occurred in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. A thunder and lightning storm that occurred caused the landslip, which buried more than 20 trucks and resulted in at least seven fatalities (including two Afghan nationals) [2] and dozens more who are thought to be trapped. A crucial border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Torkham crossing, was shut down as a result of the event. [3]
The flow of people and goods between Pakistan and Afghanistan is made easier by the Torkham crossing, which serves as a vital commerce route between the two nations. Another important route for transportation is the Karakoram Highway, which links Gilgit-Baltistan with Islamabad. [4] [5]
According to a statement from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Disaster Management Authority, a landslide on the main road leading to the Torkham border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan crushed 15 to 20 cargo cars at around 02:00. [6] The incident has seriously hampered connectivity, trade, and transit between the two nations. [3]
The rescue operation involved heavy machinery, including 12 ambulances, 3 recovery vehicles, 4 fire vehicles, and 3 heavy excavators. [7] [8]
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences and directed officials to speed up the rescue work and restore the road for traffic as soon as possible. [7]
The Salang Tunnel is a 2.67-kilometre-long (1.66 mi) tunnel in Afghanistan, located at the Salang Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains, between the Parwan and Baghlan provinces, about 90 kilometers north of the capital city of Kabul. Nearly 3,200 m (10,500 ft) above sea level, it was completed by the Soviet Union in 1964 and connects northern Afghanistan with the capital, Kabul, and southern parts of the country. The Salang Tunnel is of strategic importance and is the only pass going in a north–south direction to remain in use throughout the year, although it is often closed during the cold winters by heavy snowfall.
The Salang Pass is the primary mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan with Parwan Province, with onward connections to Kabul Province, southern Afghanistan, and to the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Located on the border of Parwan Province and Baghlan Province, it is just to the East of the Kushan Pass, and both of them were of great importance in early times as they provided the most direct connections between the Kabul region with northern Afghanistan or Tokharistan. The Salang River originates nearby and flows south.
Nowshera is the capital city of Nowshera District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is the 78th largest city in Pakistan and ninth largest city in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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The insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also known as the War in North-West Pakistan or Pakistan's war on terror, is an ongoing armed conflict involving Pakistan, and Islamist militant groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Jundallah, Lashkar-e-Islam (LeI), TNSM, al-Qaeda, and their Central Asian allies such as the ISIL–Khorasan (ISIL), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, East Turkistan Movement, Emirate of Caucasus, and elements of organized crime. Formerly a war, it is now a low-level insurgency as of 2017.
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Torkham border crossing is a major border crossing between the Pakistani city of Torkham and Afghanistan, located along the Grand Trunk Road on the international border between the two countries. It connects Nangarhar province of Afghanistan with Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is the busiest port of entry between the two countries, serving as a major transporting, shipping, and receiving site.
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These are the list of Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2010.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization—Pakistan relations are the military–to–military relations between Pakistan and the comprised 31-states military alliance, called NATO.
Torkham is a Pakistani town in Khyber District, that is the location of the Torkham Border Crossing with Afghanistan just to the west of the historic Khyber Pass.
Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad is a codename of a combined military operation by the Pakistani military in support of local law enforcement agencies to disarm and eliminate the terrorist sleeper cells across all states of Pakistan, started on 22 February 2017. The operation is aimed to eliminate the threat of terrorism, and consolidating the gains of Operation Zarb-e-Azb which was launched in 2014 as a joint military offensive. It is further aimed at ensuring the security of Pakistan's borders. The operation is ongoing active participation from Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Police and other Warfare and Civil Armed Forces managed under the Government of Pakistan. More than 375,000 operations have been carried out against terrorists so far. This Operation has been mostly acknowledged after Operation Zarb e Azb.
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Khyber Pass Economic Corridor (KPEC) is an infrastructure project that aims to expand Pakistan's economic connectivity with Afghanistan, and by extension Central Asia, via the Khyber Pass. The project was approved for construction in December 2019 by Pakistan and the World Bank at an expenditure of $482.75 million.
In 2016 Pakistan experienced higher rainfall than normal (10-20%), especially in the pre-monsoon season. Heavy monsoon rains are common in the region. This led to multiple periods of flooding, landslides, and damage particularly in Northern Pakistan. The Swat River overflowed and multiple landslides occurred around Pakistan including in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu, and Kashmir.
From January to October 2022, excessive rainfall and widespread monsoon flooding occurred in the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It has become the region's deadliest floods since 2020, with over 3,700 people dead.
The events listed below are both anticipated and scheduled for the year 2023 in Pakistan.
