‘Taliban get support from Iran, Pakistan’

ZARANJ (Pajhwok): The governor of southwestern Nimroz province on Wednesday alleged Taliban.

In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Amir Mohammad Akhunzada said the Taliban were a major threat to the country’s security and stability.

The newly-appointed governor said no major security threats existed in Nimroz and that a plan had been devised in collaboration with security organs to ensure that the government’s write prevailed in Zaranj, the provincial capital, and districts. 

He said the borders with Iran and Pakistan had been made secure, but areas away from the provincial capital witnessed insurgent activities.

Nimroz shares a 230-kilometer border with Iran and 185-kilometre with Pakistan.

Akhunzada said due to lack of security personnel and resources, they could not properly protect the borders. 

The governor said Dilaram and Khashrud districts shared borders with Helmand and Farah provinces that was why they feared militants’ infiltration there.

He said Nimroz was known as a key transit route for drug trafficking because drugs were produced in neighboring Helmand. Rebels and other individuals were involved in smuggling drugs to the outside world from Nimroz, he said. 

The governor informed 167 smugglers had been detained, 27 weapons and 87 containers seized after being brought in from Helmand.

Akhunzada said multiple small and long term public welfare projects, including the Lashkari canal, had been lunched in the province.

The Lairobi canal was another project to be completed over the next two or three months, the governor said, adding the canal would enable Zaranj residents to find access to clean drinking water.

Akhunzada hinted at the construction of an airport, the asphalting of 12 kilometers of roads, the inauguration of work on a bridge and hospital among others development projects underway in the province.

nh/ma