KOHAT, Oct 30: Afghan and Pakistani fruit and vegetable traders are suffering huge losses as truckers, who usually travel between Paktia and Parachinar at night and have to switch off their headlights due to fear of attacks by US planes, have refused to lift consignments, reports reaching here from Parachinar in the Kurram Agency and across the border said.

Prices of apples, grapes and potatoes have registered an unprecedented hike since the air attack on Afghanistan was launched.

Grapes, which were earlier available for Rs25 per kg, are being sold for Rs 40 per kg. Varieties of sundarkhani and beedana are in a very short supply and sold for Rs110 and Rs 60 per kg respectively.

Similarly, red apples are priced at Rs55 per kg. Prices of other varieties vary between Rs70 and Rs80 per kg.

A trader, Hakeem Khan who supplies fruit to the local and Islamabad markets, told Dawn on Tuesday that the truckers had refused to lift consignments from Paktia province, famous for its high-quality grapes and apples, as they faced a great difficulty in travelling inside Afghanistan during the night as they had to keep their headlights switched off.

He said that on several occasions the US planes had tried to bomb fruit convoys, which had their headlights on. The planes hit every moving object, assuming them to be military targets, he added.