KHYBER: With around 200 sheep smuggled from Afghanistan reaching the Landi Kotal cattle market on Tuesday night, buyers expect a decline in the prices of sacrificial animals ahead of Eidul Azha.

Cattle market sources told Dawn that Afghan livestock dealers smuggled a herd of around 200 sheep into Balochistan via unfrequented routes along Chaman border as the hope for an end to the ban on the legal animal import before Eid faded.

They said they didn’t know the actual sheep price in Afghanistan but Afghan dealers claimed that an additional amount of Rs4,500 per sheep was spent to transport sacrificial animals from Chaman to Landi Kotal.

The sources claimed that the Afghan sheep reached Landi Kotal by road in at least three days, as they were shifted at nighttime to prevent trouble by the scorching heat in the daytime.

Buyers expect lower prices of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid

Cattle dealers said if the customers demanded, around 2,000 more sheep would be smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

They said smuggled Afghan sheep were sold for Rs35,000-Rs50,000 each depending on their sizes and weight.

The cattle dealers said Afghan smugglers promised more sheep supply if they could fetch a good price.

During their May 31 meeting at Torkham, the Afghan and Pakistani officials didn’t agree on the lifting of a ban on the cross-border movement of sacrificial animals. Afghan officials linked sheep export to Pakistan with the resumption of cow and buffalo export to Afghanistan.

Pakistan had insisted in the last few years that all sheep legally imported from Afghanistan should undergo mandatory two weeks quarantine but Pakistani health authorities failed to establish such a facility at the Torkham border crossing.

The local cattle dealers claimed that the import and export of sacrificial animals between Pakistan and Afghanistan had become a political issue instead of a pure trade issue and therefore, both countries suffered losses to the tune of millions of rupees.

Landi Kotal-based cattle dealer and restaurant owner Haji Akhtar told Dawn that sheep shortages had been overcome by an increase in local production to cater to the local demand, so there was almost no need for importing Afghan sheep.

He said disparity in the exchange rate of Pakistani and Afghan currencies was also preventing local cattle dealers from importing Afghan sheep, which cost them more than the local ones.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023