KEY POINTS
- Pakistan shuts Torkham and Chaman crossings after border clashes
- Afghan Transit Trade grinds to a halt, causing millions in daily losses
- Traders warn of shortages, spoilage, and price spikes in Afghan markets
- Officials highlight economic cost and urgency to restore cross-border flow
ISLAMABAD / KABUL: Pakistan’s closure of its two main crossings with Afghanistan — Torkham in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Chaman in Balochistan — following overnight hostilities has effectively frozen the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT).
According to officials involved in bilateral trade, the closure of borders, and thus, the Afghan Transit trade would deal and estimated immediate economic blow to Kabul’s wartorn and fragile economy that could also threaten regional supply chains, eventually.
“Not just trade and travel, but the Afghan refugees’ repatriation has also been stopped at once,” the officials added.
The officials who requested anonymity confirmed on Sunday that all movement through the two crossings had been halted after what Islamabad termed “unprovoked aggression” from Afghan posts.
Pakistan’s defensive response, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, targeted “Taliban infrastructure and terrorist elements operating from Afghan soil”, while avoiding civilian areas.
The Foreign Office said that the strikes were “precise and proportionate” and stressed Pakistan’s right to defend its sovereignty.
Trade at a standstill
The Torkham and Chaman gates serve as the main arteries for bilateral and transit trade. According to commerce officials and trade associations cited in earlier closures, Torkham alone handles between $2–3 million worth of trade daily, while the inclusion of Chaman can raise the figure to nearly $5 million per day.
The shutdown has left hundreds of trucks stranded on both sides, disrupting the flow of food, medicines, and industrial inputs bound for Afghan cities.
Port and customs sources said that no consignments under the Afghanistan–Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) were processed on Sunday.
Karachi and Gwadar port authorities confirmed to local media that Afghan cargo cleared at seaports cannot move inland until land routes reopen, choking the supply chain at its midpoint.
Cumulative losses mounting
Provisional estimates suggest that if both crossings remain closed, direct trade losses could reach $14–35 million in just one week and as high as $150 million in a month, excluding indirect costs from spoilage, demurrage, and diverted shipments.
Traders in KP and Balochistan reported that perishable consignments of fruit and vegetables were already at risk, while Afghan merchants warned of rising food prices and shortages in border provinces.
The Commerce Ministry and Pakistan Customs have yet to issue formal valuations of halted cargo, but officials privately admitted that the disruption to Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA) routes “has significant short-term fiscal implications for both sides.”
Workers and transport hit hard
Local transport unions and small traders along the Torkham and Chaman corridors told Pakistani and Afghan media outlets that thousands of daily wage workers’ livelihoods are at stake with the closures.
Freight handlers, porters, and fuel vendors have been idled, compounding the economic distress already aggravated by security tensions.
The All Pakistan Customs Agents Association said cross-border logistics firms are absorbing heavy demurrage costs due to the standstill.
Regional economic implications
Analysts cautioned that continued instability at the border could force Afghan traders to shift supply routes through Iran, which are longer and costlier. That shift, said trade observers quoted by Business Recorder, would inflate Afghanistan’s import costs and erode its competitiveness in regional markets.
The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry urged diplomatic engagement to reopen crossings, warning that “any extended closure will deal a deeper blow to regional trade connectivity.”
Outlook
Officials in Islamabad maintained that border operations will remain suspended until security is assured, while Pakistan continues to “respond proportionately to aggression.”
Trade experts stress that restoring APTTA flows swiftly is crucial to prevent long-term damage to regional commerce and livelihoods. Unless normal traffic resumes soon, both sides risk deeper economic disruption and a prolonged humanitarian strain in Afghanistan’s border provinces.
