Pakistan Names Representatives To Afghanistan Border Management Committee
Kabul: Pakistan’s leading business body has named its representatives to a newly formed committee aimed at managing border affairs with Afghanistan and addressing ongoing disruptions to cross-border trade.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry said in a statement that the Pakistan–Afghanistan Border Management Committee will be tasked with resolving border-related issues, improving coordination and facilitating dialogue and trade between the two countries.
In a letter issued on Monday, the federation announced the appointment of seven Pakistani members to the committee. It said the body would review border management challenges and propose practical solutions.
According to the letter, the committee will maintain regular communication with relevant Pakistani authorities, Afghan chambers of commerce and other stakeholders to ensure effective coordination.
Sources familiar with the matter said the Taliban have not yet named their representatives to the committee.
Pakistan–Afghanistan border crossings have remained closed since October 2025 following deadly clashes between Taliban forces and Pakistani security personnel. The prolonged closure and suspension of trade have caused losses estimated at millions of dollars each day for traders on both sides of the border, according to business groups.
The Taliban said its courts publicly flogged nine people in western and eastern Afghanistan this week, continuing the use of corporal punishment under the group’s rule.
According to statements issued on Tuesday by the Taliban Supreme Court, a primary court in Herat province flogged eight people on Monday, January 5, on charges of producing, buying and selling alcoholic beverages.
In a separate case, a Taliban court in Ahmad Khel district of Paktia province publicly flogged one person on charges of currency counterfeiting.
The court said each of the accused received between 30 and 39 lashes, carried out in public and in the presence of Taliban officials and local residents.
The announcement follows a statement issued a day earlier in which the Taliban Supreme Court said lower courts had publicly flogged 16 people in the provinces of Parwan, Kabul, Kunar and Balkh.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have reinstated public corporal punishment, including floggings and executions, a practice that has drawn repeated condemnation from international human rights organisations and the United Nations.
The Taliban say the punishments are carried out in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
