Govt urged to secure key highways

KANDAHAR CITY/ FIROZKOH (Pajhwok): Commuters and transporters on Tuesday complained of growing robberies and insecurity on the Kabul– Kandahar Highways and demanded the government bolster security along main routes.

Haji Ahmadullah, president of the Kandahar Transport Association (KTA), told Pajhwok Afghan News armed robbery cases in broad daylight had increased on highways. The robbers have deprived many passengers of valuables and cash besides fleecing drivers of heavy vehicles.

Armed men did not spare women either and deprived them of jewellery, he said, claiming the highwaymen often struck as close as 100 metres to security posts. “More often they not, police are in connivance with robbers.”

Ahmadullah urged the unity government to secure the Kabul-Herat Highway. He warned of a series of protests if the authorities failed to control the situation within 10 days.

Armed robbers looted 18 passengers on the Charsadda-Ferozkoh highway in western Ghor province on Tuesday. Abdul Karim, a passenger bus driver, told Pajhwok Afghan News gunmen wearing masks opened fire on his vehicle.

He said money and mobile phones were snatched from passenger in Ferozkoh, the capital of Ghor province. The gunmen decamped with 80,000 afghanis.

“I am a poor farmer, having some sheep. I sold them for my medical treatment, but robbers have snatched all my money,” said one affected a passenger, Mohammad Karim.

Col. Abdul Hadi, Ghor crime branch chief, acknowledged the Kargosh area on Ferozkoh-Charsadda Highway had been out of government control and militants had been active there.

mds/rm /mud

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