Fish farmers in Kandahar say that the water level in the province has decreased significantly and the problem has affected 50 percent of fish farms in the southern Afghan province.

Mohammad Ibrahim, head of the Kandahar Fish Farmers’ Union, says: “The number of farms has decreased by 50 to 60 percent. In the past, there were up to 1,800 farms, but now there are about 250 active farms left. There are also inactive farms, but their number is small.”

Fish farmers call for building dams to divert water. They say that surface water should be used for raising fish, not groundwater.

Toryalai, a farmer in Kandahar, says: “Drought has made fish farms very dry. The water level has decreased a lot and this problem has affected the farmers.”

Meanwhile, officials of the Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Kandahar province say fish farmers have been provided with necessary assistance.

Toryalai Agha, Director of the Livestock Promotion Department of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock of Kandahar province, says: “Some NGOs have helped them and have provided them with equipment and fish farming training programs.”

Based on information from officials of the Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock of Kandahar province, about 152 large and 700 small fish farming farms are operating in the province, producing 700 kilograms of fish daily.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has rejected Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif’s recent claim that the IEA had requested 10 billion Pakistani rupees to relocate members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from border areas to other regions of Afghanistan.

In an interview with Geo News on Wednesday, Asif stated that Pakistan agreed to the request but demanded guarantees from the IEA that the relocated TTP members would not return. He alleged that the Islamic Emirate has not yet given a positive response.

“Mullah Yaqub, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Mullah Shirin were present in this meeting,” said Asif. “I told them that if the TTP is not stopped, we will be forced to take action, and you [IEA] should not complain. You say you will transfer them to the western provinces, but what is the guarantee that they won’t come back?”

However, Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson of the IEA, rejected the claim.

“We reject this claim. The Islamic Emirate has not made such a request to Pakistan,” Fitrat told Ariana News. “It is unfortunate that Pakistani officials are making such baseless statements.”

“We do not know for what purpose they [Pakistan] are making such claims,” Fitrat added.

Tensions between the two neighbors have been escalating. Two weeks ago, Pakistan conducted airstrikes in the Barmal district of Paktia province. The IEA reported that 46 civilians, including women and children, were killed in the attack. Pakistani media, however, claimed the strikes targeted TTP members.