Khyber   -  The continuous shutdown of Pak-Afghan highway is resulting in a daily loss of Rs25 million to the national exchequer while exports and imports have been completely halted via Torkham Border, a custom official informed.

It is worth to mention that the Koki Khel tribe has blockaded the Pak-Afghan road for cargo vehicles for the last thirteen days demanding safe repatriation of Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Rajgal, Tirah Valley.

A high-up in Custom House, Peshawar said that Rs30 million were the daily collection in form of various duties and taxes from Torkham crossing; however the protest sit-in on Pak-Afghan road in Jamrud has suspended the trading activities and presently only Rs5 million are being collected per day. He maintained that Rs25 millions daily loss injects to national exchequer due to road blockade and so far Rs325 million loss had been made to the national exchequer.

Mujeeb Shinwari, an exporter and a clearing agent in Torkham said that the total volume of trade with Afghanistan was $2.5 per day but ironically trade came to almost halt due to the road blockade.

In the same way he maintained that import from Afghanistan was Rs540 million daily that was completely suspended at Torkham crossing for the last thirteen days. He further said that Pak-Afghan trade was already on decline because of Pak-Afghan governments’ anti-trading policies and if barriers in bilateral business were not removed then in near future it would be completely closed down.

According to traders, Pakistan exports cement, heavy machinery, home appliances, rice, maize, banana, orange vegetables, chicken and fish etc, to Afghanistan and similarly imports coal, soapstone, seasonal vegetables and fruits etc, from across the border.