Nangarhar

Nangarhar is Afghanistan's trade chokepoint—all commerce with Pakistan passes through its capital Jalalabad and the Torkham border crossing that connects to the legendary Khyber Pass. This geographic bottleneck creates both wealth and vulnerability. When political tensions close the border, trucks loaded with fresh vegetables rot in the pass; when relations improve, the province captures transit fees from Afghanistan's most reliable trade corridor.

The pattern of dependency became painfully clear in late 2024. Pakistani airstrikes on Jalalabad in October 2025 targeted TTP positions but escalated into border closures that stranded trucks for nearly two months. Afghan officials announced a three-month deadline for traders to shift to alternative routes through Iran's Chabahar Port. Yet Zalmai Azimi of the Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce noted the reality: the Karachi route through Torkham remains the most affordable and reliable transit option. Geography compels continued use of a politically volatile corridor.

The stakes extend beyond commerce. Nangarhar is named in February 2025 UN documents for Taliban permissiveness toward TTP militants—the same armed group that Pakistani airstrikes target. The Khyber Pass Economic Corridor project aimed to build a 48-kilometer expressway by June 2024 to handle increased traffic, but political deterioration has undermined the economic logic. Jalalabad's lush greenery, watered by the Kabul River before it crosses into Pakistan, belies the desert of diplomatic relations that now surrounds it. The province remains trapped by its own strategic value—too important to abandon, too contested to fully exploit.