Agence France-Presse reports that after the Taliban ordered a halt to trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Afghan produce has become scarce in Peshawar’s markets.
According to the report, the price of grapes in Peshawar has now quadrupled, while the price of tomatoes has more than doubled (200 Pakistani rupees per kilogram / 46 Afghanis).
Local officials in Herat say that since mid-October, trade with Iran and Turkmenistan has increased by 50–70 percent.
The Afghanistan–Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry warned on Monday about the economic fallout of recent developments and called on Pakistan’s government to act immediately.
Tariq Farhadi, an economic analyst and former adviser to the International Monetary Fund, told AFP: “Afghanistan produces so many fruits and vegetables that it cannot store them, because it lacks cold-storage facilities.”
He added that the only solution is to export these goods quickly to prevent spoilage.
According to Farhadi, Iran’s Chabahar port — the alternative to Pakistan’s southern ports — is farther away, more expensive, and affected by U.S. sanctions.
He recommended that the Taliban and Pakistan end their trade war, as both sides rely on each other.
Farhadi stressed that Afghanistan needs Pakistan for sea access, while Islamabad needs Afghanistan to reach Central Asia.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has previously said that keeping the border crossings closed to trade is necessary to prevent militants from infiltrating from Afghanistan.
Earlier, Abdul Ghani Baradar instructed Afghan traders to seek alternatives to Pakistan and warned that if they faced problems there, the Taliban would not support them.
According to the World Bank, in 2024, 45 percent of Afghanistan’s exports went to Pakistan, more than 70 percent of which were perishable goods.
