Taliban Says It Has Tightened Border Measures to Curb Smuggling

The Taliban administration said it has taken steps over the past five years, in cooperation with other security agencies, to protect Afghanistan’s borders and prevent the smuggling of weapons and people.

Sediqullah Nusrat, spokesman for the Taliban-led Ministry of Defence, said regular programmes have been implemented to prevent smuggling inside the country and in border areas, and that strict measures have been adopted to thwart smuggling-related attempts.

According to him, the administration’s defence forces are also working alongside strengthened border security to counter the activities of what he described as “destructive elements” and to prevent insecurity.

The Taliban administration has not released further details on how these programmes are being carried out, how successful they have been, or statistics on smuggling-related incidents. Afghanistan borders several countries, and border management is considered one of the country’s key security and control issues.