KHYBER: Sales of various daily use commodities, especially edibles, have dropped by almost 50 per cent in the Landi Kotal Bazaar as Torkham border remained closed for seventh consecutive day on Saturday.

Shopkeepers in Landi Kotal told Dawn that their sales were mostly linked with bilateral trade with Afghanistan via the Torkham border.

Awais Khan, a grocery store owner, said his sales had dropped by almost 50pc as majority of Landi Kotal residents were linked to the cross-border trade, transport and labour.

He said that most of local residents had drained their savings they had made from different trading activities at Torkham.

Fruits vendors at the local bazaar told Dawn that grapes and pomegranate imported from Afghanistan had almost vanished from local market as no new consignment could arrive due to weeklong border closure.

They said that price of one kilogramme of grapes had exceeded Rs500 three days after the border was closed, while the commodity was now completely exhausted.

The price of one kilogramme tomato, imported from Afghanistan, has jacked up to Rs600 after the suspension of its supply from across the border.

The weeklong border closure has also badly impacted local taxi service.

Meanwhile, trucks loaded with perishable items have mostly returned to Peshawar after waiting for nearly five to six days at the border. Transporters complained about rotting of edibles they had loaded onto their vehicles.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2025