PESHAWAR, April 8: Cattle smuggling into Afghanistan continues unabated through 'illegal' permits allegedly issued by the political administrations of several tribal regions. The Economic Coordination Council, headed by the prime minister, had in a directive issue a few months ago, asked the political administrations not to issue cattle permits to tribal traders.

The directive was issued following an allegation involving local traders in large-scale smuggling of cows and buffaloes to Afghanistan where the demand for red meat had increased after the repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and Iran, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The political administrations of Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and North Waziristan agencies have been issuing permits to the tribal traders, allowing them to bring cows and buffaloes from settled areas to the tribal regions, the sources said.

Local cattle traders sell these permits to Afghan traders, who smuggle cows and buffaloes to their country causing a sharp increase in meat prices in the NWFP. The provincial food department and the Frontier Constabulary, which is responsible for checking the illegal trade in the tribal region, are alleged to be getting their "share" from businessmen involved in the illegal trade.

The food department had set up a checkpoint headed by an inspector at the Karkhano markets, the entry point to the Khyber tribal region, the sources said. "But they never check smuggling," they claimed.

The demand for meat in each tribal region is between 1,000 and 1,200 cattle-head per month. But smugglers, in connivance with the authorities concerned, bring approximately 5,000 cattle a month to each tribal region for smuggling into Afghanistan. There are no local Afghan breed of cows and buffaloes and the Afghans depend on the livestock coming from Pakistan.