Hundreds of passengers close Kabul-Kandahar highway

KABUL (Pajhwok): Hundreds of passengers on Tuesday staged a protest and closed the Kabul-Kandahar highway for two hours in the Company area of the capital.

The passengers, who have spent several nights at Kabul hotels due to the closure of the highway in the Maqur district of southern Ghazni province for the past six days, blocked the busy road from 7:00am till 9:00am.

Haji Zherai, a passenger from the Maiwand district of Kandahar province, told Pajhwok Afghan News they were living in a Kabul hotel for the past five days and most of them were laborers who had spent their money on food and rent.

He urged the government to address their problem and reopen the highway in Maqur at the earliest possible.

Bahram Bai, another passenger from the Darzab district of northwestern Jawzjan province, also took part in the protest along with 10 friends. He said they planned to travel to Iran but spent all their money in Kabul because of the road closure.

He accused government of ignoring their plight. “If President Ashraf Ghani doesn’t have the power to implement his orders, why did he boast of creating new districts…? We are ruined.”

Meanwhile, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told Pajhwok they had taken appropriate security measures to cope with the protest in Company area.

pk/mud

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