Taliban Announces End to Medicine Imports from Pakistan Amid Border Tensions
The Taliban administration has announced that Afghanistan will halt all imports of medicine from Pakistan within three months. The move comes amid escalating tensions between Kabul and Islamabad following the closure of several key border crossings in recent weeks.
On Wednesday, November 11 (corresponding to 21 Aqrab in the Afghan calendar), Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, instructed the Ministry of Finance not to issue any new import licenses for Pakistani pharmaceuticals after the three-month deadline expires. Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Baradar cited the poor quality of Pakistani medicines, calling them a serious challenge to the country’s healthcare system.
He urged pharmaceutical companies and traders to terminate their contracts and financial dealings with Pakistani partners during this period and to seek alternative routes and sources for importing medicine.
The decision comes at a time of heightened political and security tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have led to the closure of border crossings such as Torkham and Spin Boldak. These closures have had significant economic and humanitarian consequences.
Gol-Murad Arab, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Investment in Nangarhar province, stated that the suspension of trade through the Torkham border alone is costing Afghanistan approximately $2.5 million per day. Afghan traders, he said, are under immense pressure due to the shutdown of this vital trade artery.
Currently, some border crossings remain open solely for the repatriation of Afghan migrants from Pakistan, while nearly all trade between the two countries has come to a halt. The upcoming suspension of medicine imports from Pakistan is expected to deal another blow to Afghanistan’s already fragile healthcare sector, which continues to struggle under Taliban rule.
