After nearly 3 months, Afghanistan reopens consulate in Pak's Peshawar

Afghanistan on Friday reopened its consulate in Peshawar after a gap of almost three months with Afghan delegation visiting Pakistan for talks over the market ownership dispute in the city.

In early October, the consulate was closed in protest after the police in Peshawar had removed the Afghan national flag from a market, which Kabul said is its property, Daily Times reported.

The Afghan consulate has resumed visa operations from Friday, according to First Secretary at the Afghan Consulate in Peshawar Faridoon Haiderkhel.

He also wrote on his Facebook page that people in the city can now visit the embassy for applying and obtaining visas.

The dispute began after Pakistan's Supreme Court had ruled that a Pakistani national, Shaukat Kashmiri, was the owner of the Afghan Market, instructing the authorities to vacate the building and hand it over to him, according to the Pakistani news outlet.

Local authorities in Peshawar took strict action against shopkeepers and removed Afghanistan's national flag from the market. Later, the Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal unfurled the flag in the city leading to heightened tensions between the two countries.

While Afghanistan has reopened its consulate, Pakistan is yet to reopen the consular section of its embassy in Kabul, which was shut on November 3 in view of the "harassment" of diplomats in the Afghan capital.

Pakistani sources in Kabul told Daily Times that the consular section is slated to be opened on January 5.