Blockade of Pak-Afghan highway
KHYBER
The ongoing shutdown of Pak-Afghan highway has imposed a daily loss of Rs.25 million to the national exchequer in addition with export and import has completely halted via Torkham Border, a custom official informed.
It is to be mentioned here that the Koki Khel tribe has blockaded the Pak-Afghan road for cargo carrying vehicles for the last thirteen days demanding safe repatriation of Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Rajgal, Tirah Valley.
A high-up in Custom House, Peshawar said that 30 million rupees were the daily collection in form of various duties and taxes from Torkham crossing; however following the protest sit-in on Pak-Afghan road in Jamrud suspended the trading activities and presently only five million rupees collected per day were made.
He maintained, Rs.25 millions daily loss injects to national exchequer due to road blockade and so far Rs. 325 million loss had been made to the national exchequer.
Mujeeb Shinwari, an exporter and a clearing agent in Torkham said that a total volume of trade with Afghanistan was $2.5 per day with Afghanistan but ironically trade came to almost halt since the road blockade.
In the same way he maintained that import from Afghanistan was 540 million rupees daily that was completely suspended at Torkham crossing for the last thirteen days.
He went on that Pak-Afghan trade was already on decline because of Pak-Afghan governments anti-trading policies and if barriers in bilateral business were not removed than in near it would be completely closed down.
According to traders Pakistan exports cement, heavy machinery, home appliances, rice, maize, banana, orange vegetables, chicken and fish etc.to Afghanistan and similarly imports coal, soapstone, seasonal vegetables and fruits etc.from across the border.
An official in the National Logistic Cell in Torkham informed that previously eight to one thousand export and import carrying vehicles were facilitated each day in the terminal that dipped to sixty to eighty trucks daily due to road suspension.
Long queues of stranded vehicles, loaded with export and import could be seen at both sides of the Pak-Afghan road in Khyber.
Safirulllah , an Afghani driver said that they were fed up with routine events of road blockade in Khyber that not only multiplied their problems but also imposed a negative impact on Pak-Afghan bilateral trade.
Perishable items (fruits and vegetables) worth million rupees had decayed on the road that caused financial loss to the traders.
He asked for concrete steps to ensure smooth flow of export and import at Torkham border.
As per available information Pakistan has exported different trading commodities worth $969.04 million to Afghanistan in 2023.
