July 10, 2026
Staff Report
PESHAWAR
The nine-month-long closure of major trade routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan has caused heavy losses to the economies of both countries. According to trade organizations, Pakistani traders have suffered losses exceeding Rs 280 billion during this period, while Afghanistan has incurred losses of more than Rs 140 billion. Over 10,000 people have lost their livelihoods as a result.
Traders demand special relief package from govt
At a joint press conference in Peshawar, customs clearing agents, transporters, and traders called on the federal and provincial governments to announce a special relief package for the affected business community and to immediately reopen the Pak-Afghan border.
Mujeeb Shinwari, President of the Customs Clearing Agents Association, said that the nine-month border closure has left exporters, transporters, and customs clearing agents facing severe financial losses. He said that border trade is the sole source of livelihood for people in the border regions, as there are neither industries nor any significant agricultural activity in the area. “We have always stood by the state,” he said, “now it is the state’s turn to help us.” He reiterated the demand for the government to announce an immediate relief package for the affected business community.
Decline in exports, loss of goods
According to the Pakistan Economic Survey, the border closure has caused Pakistan’s export growth rate to fall from 4.5 percent to 1.5 percent. Trade circles say that hundreds of trucks bound for Afghanistan and Central Asian countries have been stranded at the border, where loads of fruit, vegetables, and other perishable goods have gone to waste, while transporters have suffered losses worth millions of rupees in demurrage, taxes, and other charges.
Businessman Wahid Khan Shinwari said that his 12 containers, stranded in Karachi for several months, incurred a monthly tax of $100 per container. He said that millions of rupees have been spent just on standing vehicles, while the spoilage of fruit, vegetables, and other perishable food items in hundreds of trucks stuck at the border has caused losses worth millions of rupees to every trader.
Border population also affected
Shah Khalid, a businessman from Landi Kotal, said that the closure of the Torkham border has severely affected not only trade but also the livelihoods of the local population. He said that most families in the area depended on border trade, and since the closure, unemployment and economic hardship have increased markedly.
According to trade circles, following tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, all major border trade routes, including Torkham and Chaman, were closed on October 13 last year. Under the current situation, only the return of Afghan citizens from Pakistan is permitted. Traders have warned that if the border is not reopened permanently soon, the economic crisis in the border regions will worsen further.