MAIMANA – Afghan Taliban have established a customs office in Sherin Tagabdistrict of northern Faryab province collecting taxes on goods taken to orbrought from the Aqina port.link
The Taliban recently announced establishing a customs office and imposingcustoms duty on export and import goods via the Aqina Port on the borderwith Turkmenistan.
The customs duty list published by the ‘Taliban Economic Affairs Council’shows different amounts of duty on 27 items and asks all businessmen to paythe duty.
According to the list, a container carrying medicines has to pay 11,000 to33,000 afghanis in customs levy.
In addition, a vehicle carrying tires, meat, batteries, mobile phones, oil,gas, steel and spare parts has to pay 8,500 to 25,500.
Vegetable, potatoes, wheat, corn, salt, cement are charged from 1,000 to6,000 afghanis.
Meanwhile, businessmen and residents of Faryab province asked thegovernment to act against the Taliban’s customs office.
They termed the move as unjust and warned that 150 million afghanis wouldgo to the insurgency annually from the newly established customs office.
Mohammad Sharif, a shopkeeper in Maimana, who exports goods from Balkhprovince, termed the Taliban’s customs office as an unfair step by theTaliban and added this would badly affect common people.
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He asked the Taliban if their struggle was to help people, they shouldremove the customs office they had recently established.
Governor’s spokesman Ahmad Javed Baidar, confirmed the Taliban’s customsoffice and said the rebels had now started snatching money from commonpeople after their financiers stopped giving them money.
He said the Taliban received enough money from the customs office andbought weapons and gears for insurgency.
Maulvi link Saeed, who introduced himself asa Taliban economic affairs expert, said the decision to establish thecustoms office was in line with the decision of the Taliban leadership andadded the facility had been established since February 8 and everyone waswell-informed about custom duties.
About businessmen’s concerns, he said 80 percent of Faryab’s land was inthe Taliban’s hands and the government had no right to charge customs dutyon businesses.
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