PM: Pakistan forced to halt Afghan trade

TALKS FAILED DESPITE MEDIATION; KABUL ASKED TO REIN IN MILITANT GROUPS

- BY STEPHEN N.R.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif yesterday said Pakistan was “forced” to suspend all trade with Afghanistan after Kabul failed to act against militant groups operating from its territory, warning that terrorism had once again become the country’s gravest security challenge.

Addressing a national Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) security workshop in Islamabad, Sharif said the complete shutdown of Pak-Afghan trade, in place since mid-October 2025, was avoidable but unavoidable under the circumstances.

“There is a complete blockade of Pak-Afghan trade. It should not have been there, but they forced us,” the prime minister said, according to Dawn and Geo News.