Taliban Orders End To Medicine Imports From Pakistan
The Taliban’s Ministry of Finance says a complete ban on the import of medicines from Pakistan has taken effect, urging traders to seek alternative supply routes.
The Taliban’s Ministry of Finance says a complete ban on the import of medicines from Pakistan has taken effect, urging traders to seek alternative supply routes.
Abdul Qayum Nasir, spokesperson for the ministry, told Radio Omid, a Taliban-aligned outlet, that the decision came into force on Monday. He said the authorities would also halt the movement of goods through smuggling routes and warned that those involved in smuggling would be prosecuted, with confiscated goods destroyed.
The ministry had earlier informed traders that they had 19 days to end commercial transactions and trade documentation linked to Pakistan.
The decision follows months of political tensions, border clashes between Pakistani forces and the Taliban, and the closure of key transit routes. Border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained largely closed since September.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy prime minister for economic affairs, previously urged traders to suspend business with Pakistan and identify alternative trade corridors.
The suspension of imports has already affected Afghanistan’s pharmaceutical market. Traders and residents report shortages of several medicines in Kabul, accompanied by rising prices. More than 70 precent of Afghanistan’s medicines were previously imported from Pakistan.
Pharmacists say essential medicines, particularly cardiac drugs that were largely supplied by Pakistan, have become harder to obtain. A resident of Herat said in a video sent to Afghanistan International that medicine prices in Afghanistan had reached “the value of a human life.”
Taliban officials travelled to India, Iran and Turkiye last month in search of alternative sources of pharmaceutical imports to address shortages in the domestic market.
