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Truckers go on strike in Chaman

CHAMAN: Scores of truckers went on strike on Monday in a southwest border town to protest against a new transit tax imposed by Afghan authorities, officials said.

The truckers, who ferry essential supplies to land-locked Afghanistan, took the action after Afghanistan demanded an extra tax of 3,600 rupees per vehicle, local Chamber of Commerce President Haji Hameedullah said. "There are around 200 trucks parked on the border and we will observe a complete strike until the tax is withdrawn," Hameedullah told AFP. "We are already paying taxes to both Pakistani and Afghan governments,

but the Afghan authorities suddenly imposed this new transit tax on Sunday,"

Akhtar Mohammad, the Afghan police chief at the border crossing, said the Pakistani truckers could avoid the extra tax by emptying their trucks at the border and allowing Afghan truckers to transport the goods further. A Pakistani border security official confirmed that the truckers were on strike, but said vehicles carrying NATO supplies were crossing the border. afp

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