The Ministry of Transport and Aviation announced on Thursday that it suspended two transportation companies following deadly traffic accidents on Kabul-Kandahar highway.

Recently, two traffic accidents on the highway in Ghazni province left more than 50 people dead and scores injured.

The Ministry of Transport and Aviation said in a statement that the companies involved have been suspended and a joint technical team has been dispatched to the scene to investigate.

Domestic and foreign investors are showing an increased interest in investing in the electricity-producing sector in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Energy and Water says.

According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy and Water, Matiullah Abid, keen interest has been shown by investors from Turkey, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and China.

Afghanistan currently produces only 20% of its energy needs, while 80% of its electricity is imported from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran at a cost of about $300 million a year.

Since regaining control of the country in August 2021, the Islamic Emirate has made it a priority to encourage domestic production of power.

Omar has met with potential investors on numerous occasions and has encouraged them to invest in the sector.

Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) this week announced it had signed a contract for the purchase of electricity from Uzbekistan for the year 2025.

This agreement was signed in Tashkent by DABS CEO Abdul Bari Omari.

Late last month, Tajikistan's national electric power company, Barqi Tojik, and DABS signed a similar agreement for 2025.

According to Barqi Tojik's press secretary, Kurbon Ahmadzoda, the agreement is expected to be extended annually until 2028.

There are many differences between Syria and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, has said.

In an interview with the BBC in Damascus, Sharaa denied that he wanted to turn Syria into a version of Afghanistan.

Sharaa said the countries were very different, with different traditions. Afghanistan was a tribal society. In Syria, he said, there was a different mindset.

“Afghanistan is a tribal community. Syria is completely different. The people just don’t think in the same way. The Syrian government and the ruling system will be in line with Syria’s history and culture,” he said.

He said he believed in education for women.

“When it comes to women’s education, of course. We have had universities in Idlib for more than eight years. I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60 percent.

"We've had universities in Idlib for more than eight years," Sharaa said, referring to Syria's north-western province that has been held by rebels since 2011.

"I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%."

Asked whether the consumption of alcohol would be allowed, Sharaa said: "There are many things I just don't have the right to talk about because they are legal issues."

He added that there would be a "Syrian committee of legal experts to write a constitution. They will decide. And any ruler or president will have to follow the law".

The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on Ahmad al-Sharaa’s remarks on Afghanistan.

The remarks come as girls above the sixth grade have been denied the right to education for more than three years and universities are also closed to women.

Reports suggest that the leadership of the Islamic Emirate has also recently decided to close medical institutes to girls.