Dawn
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12:33 Dec 19, 2025
ISLAMABAD: Traders from Chaman have arrived in the federal capital to press the government to reopen the border crossing with Afghanistan for cross-border trade, a member of the delegation said on Friday. All border crossings with Afghanistan have remained closed since October 11, and trade has been at a standstill following ground fighting and retaliatory Pakistani airstrikes across their 2,600-kilometre frontier that killed dozens on both sides—the worst fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Kabul. There are no signs of the border reopening, with Taliban rulers refusing to allow United Nations humanitarian aid to use Pakistan’s land route. Many people in Afghanistan depend on UN aid. The traders have held a series of meetings with government officials, including Federal Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, and sought their help in reopening the border, the second key crossing with Afghanistan, the former president of the Chaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry told Dawn. A delegation led by the Pre...