Kabul-Mazar highway reopens

PUL-I-KHUMRI (PAN-Mazar-i-Sharif highway was reopened after a three and half hours blockade by angry protestors in the northern province of Baghlan, officials said on Thursday.

More than 400 people protesting against the seizure of their land by powerful individuals in Yakawland district of Bamyan and Behsud district of central Maidan Wardak province closed the highway at 10am.

The busy route, linking Kabul with northern Afghanistan, was reopened at 1:30pm as a result of mediation from tribal elders, provincial council member, Alam Jan, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A public representative from Dand Ghori district, Shams-ul-Haq, and a tribal militia commander, Noor-ul-Haq, assured the protestors that their problems would be resolved.

After the talks, 15 representatives of the protestors were sent to discuss the problem with Governor Munshi Abdul Majeed.

“We would never have called off our protest if elders had not intervened,” said a protestor, Mohammad Basit. He warned to resume their protests if the problem was not resolved by the governor.

“Government officials have illegally given our land to Yakawland and Behsud residents, who have set up tents on our fields,” said another protestor, Mohammad Nasir. He claimed outsiders had encroached on 1,500 acres of land over the past five years.

He accused Deputy Governor Abdul Hadi Rafe, and Hajji Nabi, a brother of Second Vice President Karim Khalili, of involvement in seizing and selling their lands.

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