Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Road to ruin: Double tax and bandits on Pakistan-Afghan trade route

Road to ruin: Double tax and bandits on Pakistan-Afghan trade route

THE Taliban's capture of a key Afghan-Pakistan border post has sent trucking costs soaring, with insurgents and government officials separately taxing traders, and bandits demanding bribes to allow safe passage of goods.

Thousands of vehicles cross daily from Chaman in southwestern Pakistan to Spin Boldak on the other side of the border, carrying goods to Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-biggest city.


On the way back, they usually ferry agricultural produce bound for Pakistan's markets or ports.

The bilateral trade - worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year - ground to a halt earlier this month after the Taliban seized the dusty border town, but resumed this week with the insurgents seemingly firmly in charge.

They have captured a vast swath of the country since early May after launching a series of offensives to capitalise on the final stages of the withdrawal of foreign troops.

While they have not yet taken any provincial capitals, they have captured a string of key border posts with Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan which provide vital revenue from customs duties on goods arriving in the landlocked country.

"We loaded grapes in Kandahar and on the way we have been extorted at least three times," trucker Hidayatullah Khan said at Chaman.

"Sometimes they charge Rs 3,000 (ÂŁ13), somewhere else Rs 2,000 (ÂŁ8.8), and in some other place Rs 1,000 (ÂŁ4.4)," he said.

That was on top of the taxes he had to pay Taliban officials in Spin Boldak and Afghan government customs officials who have opened shop in Kandahar.

Truckers interviewed in Chaman this week told of chaos and confusion on the Afghan side of the border.

Imran Kakar, vice president of the Pakistan-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce, gave an example of a truck carrying fabric from Karachi to Kandahar.

The Taliban charged the driver Rs 150,000 (ÂŁ662) as duty in Spin Boldak, but when the vehicle reached Kandahar government officials were also waiting.

"We had to pay even higher customs duties as they don't acknowledge the payments made to the Taliban," said Kakar.

The scenes were reminiscent of Afghanistan during its brutal civil war in the 1990s, when a patchwork of militias held stretches of key trade routes and extorted truckers and residents using the roads at will.

Hundreds of trucks were lined up Wednesday (28) on the Pakistan side of the border, waiting for permission to cross.

On a dusty plain, with rugged hillocks as the backdrop, drivers and "spanner boy" apprentices tinkered with their vehicles ahead of the journey.

While the distance is just 100 kilometres (60 miles), the journey is fraught with danger.

Vehicles and roads are poorly maintained in Afghanistan, police and army checkpoints routinely demand "tea money" or more from every driver, and bandits also lie in wait - either to steal goods or demand further payment for safe passage.

There is also the risk they could be caught in the crossfire during fighting between the Taliban and government forces.

Still, traders and drivers say they have few options but to keep on trucking.

"War has been going on, we know that, but we don't have any other choice," said Abdul Razzaq, a driver carrying hatchling chicks to Kandahar.

"Transportation of goods is the only means for us to feed our families," he said.

More For You

Starmer seeks strong protections for military base in Chagos deal

Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a meeting with business leaders on January 28, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Benjamin Cremel - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Starmer seeks strong protections for military base in Chagos deal

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer and his Mauritian counterpart Navin Ramgoolam on Friday (31) spoke directly for the first time about the Chagos Islands deal, Starmer's office said.

Britain and its former colony reached a deal last October to hand back Chagos -- which it kept control of after Mauritius gained independence in the 1960s -- provided a UK-US military base remains on the largest island, Diego Garcia.

Keep ReadingShow less
Tommy Robinson supporters and anti-racism groups to face off

Supporters of Tommy Robinson carry a banner in Parliament Square. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

Tommy Robinson supporters and anti-racism groups to face off

PROTESTERS supporting far-right activist Tommy Robinson and anti-racism campaigners will gather in central London on Saturday (1), with police deploying extra officers to maintain order and prevent clashes.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is serving an 18-month prison sentence for breaching a High Court injunction. His supporters, rallying under the banners "Stop the Isolation" and "Unite the Kingdom," will assemble near Waterloo Station from midday before marching to Whitehall.

Keep ReadingShow less
What’s next for Rishi Sunak? From Downing Street to a new mission

Rishi Sunak with Akshata Murty

What’s next for Rishi Sunak? From Downing Street to a new mission

NOW that he has been prime minister, what next for Rishi Sunak?

His wife, Akshata Murty, dropped a hint when she was interviewed along with her mother, Sudha Murty, for the long-running Relative Values slot in the Sunday Times.

Keep ReadingShow less
India slashes income taxes in bid to boost economy

Nirmala Sitharaman holds up a folder with the government of India's logo as she leaves her office to present the annual budget in the parliament, in New Delhi. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain

India slashes income taxes in bid to boost economy

INDIA's finance minister unveiled broad income tax cuts on Saturday (1) as prime minister Narendra Modi's government looks to bolster consumption and perk up a slowing economy.

The world's most populous country is forecast to expand at its slowest pace since the Covid pandemic in the current fiscal year, after growing at more than eight per cent last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Washington-air-crash-Getty

The collision is the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001. (Photo: Getty Images)

Two Indian-American passengers among victims of Washington air crash

TWO Indian-Americans were among the 67 people killed in a mid-air collision between a US Army helicopter and a jetliner at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, media reports said.

Vikesh Patel, a GE Aerospace engineer, and Asra Hussain Raza, a Washington DC-based consultant, were on board American Airlines flight 5342 when it collided with the Army helicopter while approaching the airport on Wednesday night.

Keep ReadingShow less