KARACHI (Dunya News) – Amid renewed tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan following deadly border clashes, Islamabad has suspended all cargo transport under the Afghan Transit Trade from Karachi ports.
The move, ordered by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), comes as key customs stations in Quetta and Peshawar have become incapacitated to handle additional Afghan-destined containers.
All port terminals have been instructed to offload containers already loaded onto vehicles, cancel existing gate passes, and halt all clearance operations. Karachi Port and Port Qasim have ceased handling Afghan cargo, while long queues of transit containers have been reported at South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT), with hundreds of trucks stranded and many others stuck en route to border stations.
The indefinite suspension was finalised during a meeting at the Directorate of Transit Trade Headquarters, Customs House Karachi, chaired by the Afghan Transit Trade Director General (DG). The decision follows escalating hostilities between the two countries after Pakistan’s military responded to what it described as unprovoked overnight attacks by Taliban fighters and India-backed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants last week.
Pakistan’s forces conducted “precision fires and strikes, as well as physical raids” against Taliban camps, training facilities, and support networks operating from Afghan territory, reportedly killing over 200 Afghan Taliban and allied militants. The latest bout of fighting reignited this week, prompting Pakistan to carry out further precision strikes targeting Taliban positions in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province.
Following intense exchanges, both sides agreed to a temporary 48-hour ceasefire on Wednesday, after a request from the Taliban regime in Kabul. However, diplomatic strains remain deep, driven by Pakistan’s repeated demands that Afghanistan curb cross-border militancy amid a sharp rise in terror incidents inside Pakistan.
Reports suggest that congestion at Karachi terminals has reached critical levels, with Afghan-bound cargo unable to proceed further. At the same time, customs stations at Quetta and Peshawar have been overwhelmed, unable to store or process additional consignments.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan-Afghanistan border at Torkham has remained sealed for the fifth consecutive day, freezing two-way trade and cross-border movement. Long queues of cargo trucks have stretched for kilometres on both sides of the frontier, as traders and transporters face mounting losses estimated in millions of rupees daily.
Local traders have urged both Islamabad and Kabul to resolve the standoff through dialogue, warning that the prolonged closure of this key trade artery is inflicting severe economic strain on communities that depend on the cross-border route for livelihood.