ISLAMABAD  - Pakistan has taken notice of the smuggling of urea fertilizer to Afghanistan — a common ingredient of the most of the IEDs used in the region, The Nation has learnt reliably.
The smuggling of urea to Afghanistan is a significant issue for both Pakistan and Afghanistan as according to a rough estimate, around 80 per cent of the US casualties in Afghanistan occur due to the urea-based IEDs. Acting upon an information gathered by a civilian intelligence agency, the Prime Minister office has asked the Ministry of Interior for immediate action to stop the practice.
In a letter addressed to the Secretary Interior, the PM office on January 5, 2016, said although westward smuggling of urea fertilizers is not currently on the top of Pakistan’s priority list, yet the issue has been important for the American interests in the region.
It said in 2011, the American Congress had threatened the government of Pakistan of withholding 700 million dollars of foreign aid to the country if it failed to prevent fertilizer smuggling to Afghanistan.
Sharing the information gathered by the intelligence agency with the Interior Ministry, the PM office said reportedly on November 12, 2015 around 150 pickups loaded with Urea (DAP, 7 Star)/chemical and other contraband were smuggled to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
The letter further said that owing to the large number of casualties, US troops in Southern Afghanistan had been granted the authority to confiscate/purchase fertilizer from local farmers on double rate.
This crackdown against nitrogenous fertilizers like urea has resulted in significant reduction in deaths due to roadside explosions, the letter mentioned. It also said although urea is extensively used in IEDs, it is worth remembering that Afghanistan cannot cater for agricultural urea requirements and a large part of the smuggled urea is also utilized in agriculture too.
This situation has led to shortage of fertilizers in Afghanistan. This subsequently leads to increase in prices and also encourages the farmers to cultivate lucrative cash crops like poppy, the PM office told the Interior Ministry.