At the Top of the Khyber Pass: Reaching an NGO in Landi Kotal From Home

Landi Kotal sits near the top of the Khyber Pass, the last large town before the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan. For centuries its bazaar has lived on the traffic of the pass: traders, transporters, porters and travellers. Its people, mainly Shinwari and Afridi, have seen good years and very hard ones, as border rules changed, trade rose and fell, and security operations disrupted life across the former tribal areas. Someone searching for an NGO in Landi Kotal today might be a labourer who lost border work, a family struggling with medical costs, or a student who wants to continue studying.

Landi Kotal, and the whole of Khyber District, fall within the areas Peace and Humanity Welfare Organization (PHWO) serves online. Yet there is no PHWO office, centre or worker there; PHWO’s only office is in Larkana, Sindh. People reach it online, through Message PHWO in a free PHWO account, or by asking a volunteer; the service is free. A volunteer checks what you say; support is possible only for a need that is confirmed and can be met, and none is assured.

Counting the people of the pass

Enumerators in 2023 recorded 1,146,267 people in Khyber District, with 312,313 of them in Landi Kotal tehsil, spread over 679 square kilometres (PBS tehsil-level census table). About 12 percent of the tehsil’s people were counted as urban, and households averaged 6.5 members. Across the district, about 99.7 percent speak Pashto as their first language (PBS Table 11).

Khyber was a tribal agency until the former FATA was merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018. Many public services, from courts to police, have changed since then, and people are still learning how the new system works.

Life on the border road

For many households in Landi Kotal, income depends on the road to Torkham. Porters, loaders, truck drivers, money changers and small shopkeepers earn when goods and people move freely, and lose their income when the border closes or rules change. Such changes can come suddenly, leaving daily-wage workers without earnings for weeks.

If your family has lost its income this way, explain in Request help what work was done, when it stopped and how the household is managing now. You may ask about ration, clearing debts, medical bills, school and college fees or rent. Food, loans and study devices lead the requests PHWO gets from all over Pakistan.

Rebuilding after years of disruption

Military operations in Khyber during the last two decades displaced many families for long periods. Some returned to damaged homes and markets; others stayed in Peshawar. Schools, clinics and roads have been rebuilt in many places, but family finances often took longer to recover, and some households still carry debts from those years.

PHWO is non-political and non-sectarian. It asks only what it needs to understand and verify your situation. Whatever your family has been through, you apply the same way as anyone else in Pakistan.

Families who have lost an earner, or who look after someone disabled by an injury, can say so clearly. Long treatment in Peshawar hospitals means travel, food and medicine costs that add up month after month; attach prescriptions and bills so volunteers can see the real burden.

How to apply from Landi Kotal

• Open the form or message PHWO from your free PHWO account.
• Explain your situation in Pashto or Urdu.
• Add a live photo of yourself and any documents you have, for example a hospital card, a fee challan or a loan receipt.
• Answer unknown numbers for a few days, since a volunteer might ring.

Everything is free. Processing is free; say no to any man in the bazaar who wants payment to push your file.

Legal questions in the merged district

Since the 2018 merger, Khyber has ordinary district courts, with appeals to the high court in Peshawar. Family cases such as maintenance, dower, khula and custody, and land and inheritance disputes that used to be settled only by jirga, can now go to court. Many people are unsure of their rights under the new system.

Post your papers and a short explanation to Free legal aid. Volunteer advocates explain your options, including how the courts now work for Khyber District. You do not need an FIR. Custody questions and cases with an early hearing are read first. Representation before the judge by a volunteer is possible sometimes, but never pledged.

Public services for Landi Kotal

• Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Landi Kotal for treatment; serious cases are usually referred to Peshawar.
• Rescue 1122 for emergencies on the Khyber road; 15 for police.
• Merged-district families can register for BISP; SMS the CNIC to 8171 or read bisp.gov.pk.
• Khyber District’s zakat committee for state zakat.
• Post-merger provincial departments on kp.gov.pk.

Students, skills and giving back

Young people in Landi Kotal increasingly want education and online work that do not depend on the border. A laptop or smartphone can make that possible; attach your enrolment proof if you ask for one. Ask too about computer and trade courses under Programmes.

Shinwari and Afridi families in Peshawar, Karachi and the Gulf may Donate or back a household through Sponsor a case; zakat and Sadaqah are forwarded without any cut. Lawyers and fundraisers abroad may enrol as a Volunteer, with a certificate, a letter of appreciation and an experience letter.

Public services in Landi Kotal you can also use

• District and Sessions Courts, Khyber DistrictFamily, civil and criminal cases
• Peshawar High CourtAppeals from Khyber District
• Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Landi KotalGovernment hospital
• Rescue 1122Dial 1122
• PoliceDial 15
• BISP office KhyberSMS CNIC to 8171
• District Zakat Committee KhyberGovernment zakat

These are public or independent services, listed to help you. They are not part of PHWO.

Frequently asked questions