Residents of remote districts in Kunar demand basic facilities

ASADABAD (Pajhwok): Some residents of districts near the Durand line in eastern Kunar provincecomplain that these districts have been neglected in the past two decades and deprived of any kind of development projects and face numerous problems.

Residents of the Markazi village of the Sarkan district, located near the Durand Line in Kunar, said that no developmental projects have been implemented in their area due to wars and insecurity over the past two decades.

Ismail Sadaat, a resident, said, “For two decades, war and insecurity have ravaged many areas and villages of our district. People are deprived of the basic necessities of life, we have no roads, and there are no equipped health centers.”

He added that it was not only internal conflicts that had affected their region, but occasional artillery shelling by Pakistani forces had also caused heavy human and financial losses, making life bitter.

Similarly, residents of the Shultan district also complain that successive governments have not given attention to implementing basic projects in their region in recent years.

Ghazi Khan, a resident Sono Dara, said that many villages in the district lack healthcare facilities and villagers face great difficulty in transporting their patients to the district health center, often without receiving proper treatment due to a lack of resources.

He stated, “Our area has been affected by wars, many valleys have no roads, and people’s access to healthcare centers is difficult. If I tell you that we are deprived of basic necessities of life, it would not be an exaggeration.”

He added that the people are poor and meet their daily needs through agriculture and livestock, and called on the government to pay special attention to them.

They urge the government to focus more on the remote areas of Kunar that have been left behind in terms of development after the end of the conflict in the country, and to implement basic projects in the sectors of reconstruction, education, agriculture, livestock, and healthcare, based on the needs of the people.

Meanwhile, local officials in Kunar say that since re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), several reconstruction and development projects have been implemented in many of Kunar’s remote districts, and some projects are still ongoing.

Abdullah Haqqani, the deputy governor of Kunar, told Pajhwok Afghan News that now that security has been established across the country, the government is making efforts to implement development and basic projects based on the needs and demands of the people.

He said, “Over the past three years, roads, schools, and health centers have been constructed in many remote areas of Kunar, and work on similar projects continues in some regions.”

He added that plans are in place to carry out essential work based on the needs and demands of the people.

It is worth noting that over the past two decades, in addition to the wars, the districts near the Durand Line have been frequently shelled by Pakistani forces, and the governments have not given much attention to implementing developmental projects in these areas.

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