Officials of the Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a number of businessmen express concern that the Torkham crossing is still closed to trucks without temporary transit documents and hundreds of trucks carrying fresh fruits and vegetables are stopped on both sides of the border.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Kabul: Zalmi Azimi, deputy head of the Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the media that 500 trucks are stopped on the Afghan side and the same number on the Pakistani side.

He added that the movement of cars whose drivers have "temporary passports" is going on.

According to Mr. Azimi, the cars that are stopped are carrying fresh fruits and vegetables, and every day that passes, most of these shipments are damaged and the traders suffer more losses.

A number of traders also say that due to the stoppage of trucks carrying fruits and vegetables, millions of Afghanis have been damaged.

Haji Rahmatullah, one of these traders, said that he was forced to sell these fruits at half price in the Jalalabad market due to the fear of spoilage of the shipments of watermelons, melons and grapes.

He says that he has been able to sell only half of the two trucks of fresh fruit so far.

This businessman said that the consulate of the Islamic Emirate in Peshawar issues the temporary transit document for Pakistani drivers quickly, but the Pakistani embassy in Kabul issues this document for Afghan drivers in several days and with a delay.

Traders want the Islamic Emirate and the Pakistani authorities to take specific measures to solve the problem of truck traffic in order to prevent further damage to the traders.

The Torkham crossing was blocked by Pakistan for vehicles without temporary pass documents around 12:00 on Thursday night last week.

Following this action of Pakistan, the Islamic Emirate also blocked this crossing for Pakistani trucks that do not have such a document.

Pakistan had given Afghanistan's drivers until July 31 this year to receive a "temporary traffic document".

This document is designed for the traffic laws of drivers across the borders of the two countries and is distributed by the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and the Pakistani consulate in Peshawar.