The Kabul Tribune (KT) — The 12-day closure of border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan has sent prices of essential goods soaring in both countries, with tomato prices in Pakistan jumping fivefold since fighting broke out earlier this month, Dawn reported Thursday.
The borders have remained shut since Oct. 11, following
ground clashes and Pakistani airstrikes across the 2,600-kilometer frontier
that killed dozens on both sides — the deadliest confrontation since the
Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
“We have no information when the border with Afghanistan
will be opened,” a senior official in Chaman told Dawn. The official said
traders and transporters have urged authorities to reopen the crossings, but no
decision has been made.
All trade and transit have been suspended since the violence
began, said Khan Jan Alokozay, head of the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce in
Kabul. “With each passing day, both sides are losing around $1 million,” he
told Reuters.
According to Dawn, fresh fruit, vegetables, minerals,
medicine, wheat, rice, sugar, meat and dairy products account for most of the
$2.3 billion annual trade between the two countries.
Tomato prices in Pakistan have surged by more than 400
percent to around 600 rupees ($2) per kilogram, while apple prices — with most
imported from Afghanistan — have also sharply increased.
A Pakistani customs official at the Torkham crossing told Dawn
that around 5,000 containers are stranded on both sides of the border. “There
is already a shortage of tomatoes, apples and grapes in the market,” the official
said.
Despite mounting losses and public pressure, authorities on
both sides have yet to announce when trade and transit operations will resume.
