The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has suspended all Afghan Transit Trade transportation operations through Karachi ports, including the cancellation of all gate passes issued for cargo under the agreement.
The decision was taken during a high-level meeting at the Customs House Karachi, chaired by the Director General of Afghan Transit Trade on Thursday.
According to the 24NewsHD TV channel, following the meeting, a Customs General Order (CGO) was issued, placing the suspension in effect until further notice.
In the immediate aftermath of the order, all port terminals began offloading Afghanistan-bound containers from transport vehicles. Clearance operations at both Karachi Port and Port Qasim have also been halted.
According to customs sources, storage capacity at customs stations in Quetta and Peshawar has reached full capacity, leaving no room for additional containers.
At the South Asia Pakistan Terminal (SAPT), long queues of Transit Permit (TP) containers have formed, with hundreds of loaded trucks now stranded in port areas and along key transit routes to Quetta and Peshawar.
This commercial blockade comes at a time of heightened military and diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On October 15, Pakistan and the Taliban regime in Kabul agreed to a temporary 48-hour ceasefire. The announcement came at the request of the Afghan Taliban, as confirmed by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan stated that during this ceasefire, both sides would make “sincere efforts to find a positive solution to this complex but solvable issue through constructive dialogue.”
The ceasefire followed the Pakistan Army’s "precision strikes" inside Afghanistan’s Kandahar province and the capital, Kabul.
The Pakistan Army claimed that "Battalion Number 4 and Border Brigade Number 6" of the Afghan Taliban were destroyed in the strikes, with dozens of foreign and Afghan operatives killed.
Tensions have steadily escalated in recent weeks over cross-border militancy, with Pakistan blaming elements within Afghanistan for orchestrating attacks on its soil.
Meanwhile, trade disruptions, border closures, and the suspension of key transit routes have intensified economic and humanitarian concerns on both sides.
Reporter: Ashraf Khan