KHYBER: The Torkham border remained closed for the fourth straight day on Saturday, suspending the bilateral trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the prolonged period through this busiest route.

The continuous closure has taken a heavy toll on the bilateral trade as customs officials at Torkham estimated the country had incurred a cumulative loss of Rs240 million in imports, while export goods worth at least $8.16 million could not be sent to Afghanistan during the last four days.

Requesting anonymity, they said Pakistan exported heavy machinery, cement, medicines, leather products, sports gear and many other miscellaneous goods worth $2.4 million to Afghanistan via Torkham daily.

Similarly customs duties to the tune of Rs60 million were added to the national exchequer from imports from Afghanistan daily.

The Wednesday’s firing incident at Torkham and subsequent closure of the border had brought trading activities to a complete halt with traders and transporters also incurring huge losses due to loss of time and danger of perishable items, including fresh fruits and vegetable, poultry products and fish, getting rotten. Local authorities said they were awaiting a green signal from Islamabad about any possible reopening of the border.

Meanwhile, relatives of the two Afghans, a woman and a child, who had died on the Pakistani side on the day the border was closed, had taken back the bodies to Haripur and Peshawar, where their other family members lived.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2023