ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided not to reopen its border crossings with Afghanistan as the closures entered their third week, with officials citing continuing security threats and cross-border attacks.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi on Friday said that “Afghan transit trade is closed, is not taking place” and would remain suspended “till the evaluation of the security situation.”
Addressing a weekly briefing on Friday, he said Pakistan had witnessed “continuous attacks on trading points from the Afghan side that killed our people,” adding that the “lives of citizens are more important than any commodity trade.”
The spokesperson reaffirmed Islamabad’s demand that Afghan soil not be used for “fomenting and sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.” The decision underscores Pakistan’s growing frustration over Kabul’s failure to prevent cross-border militancy despite repeated assurances.
“—-at the border points with Afghan Transit trade, armed attacks were carried out against Pakistan, killing Pakistanis. This pains us gravely. For us, the lives of Pakistanis are more important than any commodity traded. So, I think we have to have a very clear priority on ATT and our security. Pakistan lives and our security matters the most,” said the spokesman.
Border Remains Sealed Despite Ceasefire
The crossings have remained shut since October 11, when fierce fighting broke out along the 2,600-kilometre frontier after Afghan border forces fired on Pakistani military posts, triggering retaliatory airstrikes. The violence left dozens dead on both sides — the worst since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021.
A ceasefire brokered last week in Doha and Istanbul with mediation from Qatar and Turkey continues to hold, but transit and trade flows remain blocked. “We have no information when the border with Afghanistan will be opened,” a senior Chaman administration official told reporters, adding that reopening was unlikely before the October 25 review meeting in Istanbul.
According to Khan Jan Alokozay, head of the Pak-Afghan Chamber of Commerce in Kabul, “all trade and transit have been blocked since the fighting erupted.” Islamabad insists it will not reopen the crossings until credible assurances are received from Kabul that militants will no longer use Afghan territory to attack Pakistan.
Border Towns Paralyzed, Thousands Stranded
At Torkham, Chaman, Kharlachi, Angoor Adda, and Ghulam Khan, hundreds of traders and truck drivers remain stranded. “We’ve been stuck here in Peshawar since October 13, when the Torkham border was shut down,” said Shareefullah, a 39-year-old trailer driver waiting to deliver rice to Afghanistan. “Every morning, we hope the border will reopen, and every evening that hope fades.”
An FIA official said that more than 5,000 Pakistanis were stranded in Spin Boldak, many of whom cross daily for small-scale trade. Border authorities temporarily opened the Friendship Gate for limited hours to allow Afghan refugees’ repatriation, but all immigration operations remain suspended.
Trade Framework Frozen
The shutdown has halted both regular bilateral trade and the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade, governed by a 2010 agreement that allows duty-free movement of goods from Pakistan’s ports to Afghanistan. The trade — which includes food items, textiles, cement, and consumer products — is normally routed through Port Qasim and Karachi Port.
In 2023, Islamabad imposed a 10% development cess and introduced chip-based electronic tracking for all transit vehicles to curb smuggling. But since the October clashes, customs operations across all five key border points have ceased entirely.
Officials in Islamabad insist the closures are a security necessity, not a political move, emphasizing that border trade will resume only when Kabul takes verifiable steps to curb militant infiltration and prevent attacks along the frontier.
