The Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PAJCCI) said that due to protests by Pakistani citizens in the area between Torkham and Peshawar, trade and transit have been halted through the Torkham crossing for the past ten days.

Naqibullah Safi, the Executive Director of the chamber, told TOLOnews that due to the closure of this route to trade and transit, a large number of Afghan and Pakistani traders have suffered losses.

Safi highlighted that high-ranking officials from both countries should engage in dialogue to resolve this issue.

Naqibullah Safi added: “It has been approximately ten days that demonstrations have taken place in the ‘Beggary’ area between the Torkham border and Peshawar, and due to these protests, trade and transit between the two sides have been halted.”

Some traders working in the fresh fruits and vegetables sector, whose trucks are stranded along this route, have reported that a large quantity of their export goods have perished.

“It is currently our export season, and we need to export more than three to four hundred trucks daily, but unfortunately, due to the closure of the Torkham crossing, our exports have reached their lowest point, causing our traders to stop exports. Many traders who have purchased products from orchards are forced to sell them at a low price,” said Omid Haidari, one of the traders.

“The loss is not small; when two or four trucks of goods per trader spoil, the vehicle rent becomes very high, and the packaging costs also increase. For these reasons, our traders have become disheartened with trade,” said Farid Azimi, another Afghan trader.

This comes at a time when border tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pakistan's increase of customs duties on Afghan export products, and the demand for temporary entry permits from Afghan drivers are cited as the main reasons for the reduction in Afghanistan’s exports to Pakistan.