The bikers battling extreme heat and armed conflict to smuggle Iranian fuel to Pakistan

The bikers battling extreme heat and armed conflict to smuggle Iranian fuel to Pakistan 16 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google BBC World Service BBC Mazaar (pictured) faces temperatures of up to 50C and risks his fuel deliveries catching fire and even exploding Mazaar's small motorbike is so laden with plastic canisters filled with petrol that there's barely room for him to sit. His worn-out bike is carrying five 70-litre oil containers, weighing roughly 600 pounds (272kg) in total. The fuel hangs precariously from the sides of his bike, strapped on with rope and string. He bought it at an open-air fuel market in Mastung, in Balochistan, Pakistan's biggest and poorest province, where he lives. Pick-up trucks loaded with plastic containers take fuel there to sell, having smuggled it across the border from Iran. While the illegal smuggling of petroleum products from Iran into Pakistan has been taking place for decades, there are signs it has been increasing in recent months as a result of the US-Israeli war against Iran. With the war heavily disrupting flows of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, fuel prices have surged, boosting demand in Pakistan for cheaper smuggled petrol and diesel from Iran. Like thousands of smugglers in Balochistan, Mazaar, whose name we've changed for his safety, ferries fuel to other open-air markets and unofficial petrol stations. He's getting ready to travel 350km (about 220 miles) through one of the hottest regions on Earth to take the fuel to the neighbouring province, Sindh. Temperatures in Balochistan can reach up to 50C (120F), causing the plastic fuel canisters to swell and soften. If they split or the lid leaks while Mazaar is riding, there's a risk of the fuel catching fire and even exploding. Smugglers are regularly killed this way. The riders come to open-air markets like this one in Mastung, where they buy the smuggled Iranian fuel before transporting it deeper into Pakistan There are other dangers here too. For decades there have been clashes in Balochistan between Pakistani forces and insurgent separatist groups demanding greater autonomy. Amid the conflict, activists say thousands of people have disappeared. "We do this because we don't have any other option," Mazaar tells the BBC World Service. "The weather is hot, the prices are high and we spend day and night on the road." The exact scale of smuggling operations is not known, but in 2024 the Japanese news website Nikkei Asia reported that a leaked report from Pakistan's intelligence agencies estimated that fuel worth $1bn (£745m) was smuggled from Iran into Pakistan annually. In May this year, Pakistan's five major oil refineries said the cross-border flow of petroleum products was increasing and sent a letter to the government urging it to intervene. Separately, this month the Oil Companies Advisory Council, which represents Pakistan's oil industry, wrote to the government to say official petroleum sales for this time of year had hit a 27-yea