Taliban plough Kandahar road, dynamite 20 bridges

KANDAHAR (Pajhwok): Taliban militants ploughed a four-kilometer portion of a road using tractors and dynamited 20 bridges in southern Kandahar province, police said on Saturday.

Kandahar police spokesman Jamal Nasir Barakzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Taliban destroyed the road between Arghistan district and Kandahar City, the provincial capital.

He said the rebels destroyed the road in order to prevent security forces but the road was used by civilians.  

Kandahar police chief Tadin Khan in a tweet condemned the destruction of the road and bridges by the Taliban. He said the Taliban used the name of jihad to destroy places of public welfare.

The Taliban partially demolished the Arghistan-Kandahar road a month after warning people not to travel on the route.

Local residents of Arghistan are unhappy with the Taliban act, which they describe as against religious and human values.

Mohammad Daud Khan, the head of tribal elder association of five border districts, said the Arghistan-Kandahar road was used by thousands of civilians on a daily basis. He said the road was built with donated money after many difficulties, but the Taliban demolished it.

He said such tactics casted doubts on the Taliban’s intention to seek peace amid ongoing peace talks in Doha, Qatar. He said roads and bridges were people’s assets and their destruction was a huge crime, asking security forces to ensure security of roads and other welfare projects.

A few days back, the Taliban destroyed a part of the Kandahar-Uruzgan highway using tractors.

Pajhwok sent an email to a Taliban spokesman but comment, but he did not reply until filing of this report.

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