Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, has announced that the group will no longer allow the import of Pakistani goods into Afghanistan, including pharmaceutical products.
Speaking at a meeting with traders in Kabul on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, Baradar said the Taliban would not support any form of trade or transit with Pakistan and plans to establish alternative trade routes.
He added that the Ministry of Finance has been instructed to halt the import of Pakistani-made medicines into the country.
The deputy prime minister also urged Afghan traders to cut all export and import dealings with Pakistan.
Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban’s Minister of Commerce, described trade routes with Pakistan as “the most damaging in recent decades,” saying that Islamabad routinely blocks trade crossings during Afghanistan’s fruit harvest season.
Azizi also stated that efforts are underway to release 12,000 containers of Afghan goods currently stranded at border crossings and emphasized that the private sector should avoid engaging in political rivalries.
These remarks come amid ongoing border tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan, which have persisted despite several rounds of peace talks mediated by Türkiye and Qatar. Trade routes on both sides of the border remain closed.
