Drivers: Extortions on highways end with the fall of previous govt

KABUL (Pajhwok): A number of drivers welcome improved roads’ security after the fall of the former regime, saying many of their colleagues had been killed or deprived of millions of afghanis by armed robbers during the previous government.

Pajhwok Afghan News spoke to a number of passenger drivers in Balkh, Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, Farah, Herat and Kandahar provinces and all said that after the fall of the previous regime, road securityhad been ensured and all illegal extortions ended.

They say in the past, armed robbers, many in Afghan National Police (ANP) uniform, would stop their vehicles and demand money from them. Sometimes they looted equipment of drivers and passengers. They say upon refusing to stop their vehicles, armed robbers would open fire at their vehicles.

Afghanistan Transport Companies Coordination Council head Mohammad Nabi told Pajhwok Afghan News that their estimations show over two billion afghanis were extorted from cargo vehicles annually on Herat-Kabul highway.

“As passenger vehicles were stopped on the highways, they were extorted, we estimate that at least 500 million afghanis were extorted from passenger vehicles a year,” he said.

“People who took money from cars were mostly in police checkpoints, irresponsible armed men, and people who worked with local commanders and strongmen,” he added.

Afghan, a driver on Herat-Kabul highway, thieves once robbed him 12,000 afghanis and some of his belongings as well as 50 passengers who were traveling with him.

He also shared a number of photos of the extortion scenes that involved military men and police forces of the former government.

He shared one of his bitter memories and said a driver of a passenger car was shot dead by police.

On March 22 this year,a former government policeman shot at a driver and killed him in Norak area of ​​Zabul province, he said.

He also provided Pajhwok with video clips of a car that had been hit by a bullet and that drivers had later protested in connection with the murder of their colleague.

He added that following the death of the driver, their protest was ignored and their problems were not resolved by former officials.

Afghan said they had created a cohesion council to address their problems, but it failed to stop thieves and robbers on highways.

There was police checkpoint in Maiwand district of Kandahar province whose commander was known as Haji Lala, who was harassing drivers and taking money from them, he said.

Similarly, Mohammad Asif Shahrah was another person who harassed drivers and took their money, he added.

He also shared another video clip which shows a driver is being beaten by a gunman.

Afghan said, “During Ashraf Ghani’s rule, police had connection with thieves, our vehicles were stopped many times near checkpoints, and they would loot everything from the drivers and the people.”

“Fortunately, there are no security problems now, and our problem is solved, there is no more extortion, and thank God, we are satisfied and have no problem,” he added.

Meanwhile, Haji Mohsen, a representative of the Hesarak Panjshir Transport Company, told Pajhwok Afghan News that they could not estimate the total annual looting, but each driver was extorted about 10,000 afghanis a day on Shamal (north) highway.

Agha Jan, a representative of Ahmad Shah Abdali Transport Company, also said drivers were extorted on the Herat-Kandahar highway.

“There were extortions before and (drivers) were being kidnapped, particularly on Kandahar-Herat highway,” he said. The amount of extortion money from drivers reached around $3 million a year, he said.

Meanwhile, GhulamSadiq, a driver on Kabul-Herat highway, said that 30 passenger buses moved on the highway every day and all of them had been extorted under the previous government.

He added that around 200,000 afghanis were extorted from passenger vehicles on the highway annually.

Since the collapse of the previous government, security on highways has improved and there is no a case of illegal extortion in the last six months, he said.

Haji Mohsen, a representative of HesarakPanjshir Transport Company, also praised improved security situation on highways after the fall of the previous government.

“During the previous government, in one day, three of our drivers were abducted in Delaram and Dehmzang districts of Nimroz province, and we paid $60,000 in ransom for the release of one of the drivers,” he said.

“The total amount of money taken from drivers in this highway reached $3 million a year, the thieves also shared the looted money with police,” he said.

mds/ma

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