Afghanistan: Eid animal ban hampers livestock traders

The prices of the cattles have increased significantly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province.

The region shares a border with Afghanistan.

Due to this suspension of supply, the price of a single ram or goat has risen by Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 in the cattle and livestock markets of Peshawar, the K-P’s provincial capital, reported The Express Tribune.

Traditionally, truckloads of sacrificial animals – particularly rams, sheep and goats--are transported into Pakistan from Afghanistan through border crossings ahead of the Eid and thousands of traders on both sides of the border make a good profit through this trade during this season.

However, the Afghan government has not yet granted permission to its traders so far to sell their animals to their counterparts in Pakistan in what is described by some as a major setback to the traders.

Some traders told the newspaper no consignment of sacrificial animals has arrived in Pakistan from the Torkham border crossing in Khyber district and the Kharlachi border crossing in Kurram district.