The Torkham crossing has been closed for patients without visas and passports for three days now.

Several patients and their caretakers on both sides of the crossing said that this issue has caused them considerable difficulty and that authorities must resolve the problem as soon as possible.

Many patients used to travel to Pakistan without a passport and visa after being registered by a special commission for patient transfer in Nangarhar; however, Pakistan is now not allowing them to cross.

"I went to Pakistan four months ago, and now I want to go again because I have many illnesses; I can neither speak nor move properly," said Mariam, a patient. 

"My liver is damaged, and I also have diabetes, and now the way is closed," Bibi Jan, another patient, told TOLOnews.

Others called on the Pakistani government to open the Torkham crossing based on principles of good neighborliness.

"I can't afford a visa. When you go to the embassy, they tell you the visa costs $2,000 or $1500. What should we do now?" said Baqir, one of the patients.

"You see that hundreds of sick people, including women and children, are here, but the Pakistani government should be a good neighbor to the people of Afghanistan and offer better cooperation," said Sayed Ghawsuddin, a caretaker of the patients.

Meanwhile, local officials in Nangarhar said they have discussed this challenge with Pakistani authorities, but apparently these discussions have not yielded satisfactory results.

"You see that there are young patients and women present. They are hopeful that they can see their doctors on the scheduled dates," Sami-ul-Haq Jamal, in charge of the patient management commission, told a TOLOnews reporter. 

"Provincial and central authorities are making efforts to address this issue and solve it through dialogue," said Siddiqullah Qureshi, an official of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Nangarhar.

Previously, some cancer patients had told TOLOnews that upon entering Pakistani territory, they were harassed and mistreated by the forces of that country for various reasons.