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Iran, Afghanistan gear up to inaugurate Khaf-Herat railway line
Iran’s Minister of Road and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami said on Wednesday that the Khaf-Herat railway link between Afghanistan and Iran will be officially inaugurated on Thursday.
Speaking to Irna News, Eslami also said Iran had invested 2.8 trillion Iranian rials (US$66.5 million) in the project, which he said will boost infrastructural development in Afghanistan and help bring economic prosperity to the country.
This will also become one of the main transit corridors in the region, Eslami added.
Khaf-Herat railway is 191 kilometers long and stretches across 77 kilometers inside Iran and 114 kilometers inside Afghanistan.
Earlier this month a trial freight train run was successfully completed and 400 tonnes of cement from Iran was delivered to Rosnak in Herat province.
A passenger train also carried Iranian railway officials to and from a meeting with their Afghan counterparts.
Construction of the project started in 2006 and was built in four stages – starting from an editing network inside Iran at Khaf.
Railway Gazette reported recently that completion has taken significantly longer than had been envisaged, with the latest section to be completed being the 62km stage 3 which ends at Rosnak on the road between Herat and the Iranian border.
The fourth stage is to be built in two phases. The first will be to extend the line to Robat Paryan and the second to Herat airport.
The Afghanistan Railway Authority said the line forms one of its most important regional connectivity projects, as it will provide the land-locked country with a link to Iranian ports and to the rail networks of Iran, Turkey and Europe.
Afghan officials told Railway Gazette that a passenger service is also being considered and that studies estimated that passenger traffic could reach 321,000 passengers a year, and freight traffic 6·8 million tonnes a year.
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Continued aid to Afghanistan vital for regional security: Kazakh president
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has emphasized the continuation of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, stating that the ongoing provision of such aid plays an important role in ensuring regional security.
Speaking at the international conference “Peace and Trust” in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, Tokayev described addressing complex humanitarian challenges and the reconstruction of Afghanistan as a necessity.
“To ensure regional security, we consider it essential to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan, including by strengthening international efforts to address complex humanitarian issues and the reconstruction of this country. Kazakhstan remains committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan through humanitarian aid, educational projects, trade development, and food security initiatives,” he said.
Meanwhile, experts believe that sustainable improvement of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan requires broad cooperation from the international community and support for the country’s economic development.
“Investment can be defined as one of the fundamental drivers of the economic cycle, and whenever Afghan traders do not take their money out of the country and instead invest domestically, it naturally leads to greater growth and dynamism in Afghanistan’s economy,” said Abdul Zahoor Modabber, an economic analyst.
As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues, reports by international relief organizations indicate that millions of citizens of the country are in urgent need of food, health, and livelihood assistance.
The reduction in funding for aid organizations, the impacts of climate change, and the return of migrants have increased concerns about a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.
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Islamic Emirate declines to attend Tehran meeting on Afghanistan
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Sirajuddin Haqqani: A government that intimidates its people is not a true government
Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said during a visit to Khost province on Friday that any government which rules through fear cannot be considered a true government.
“A government is one that is loved by its people, one that serves them with respect and compassion, and from whose behavior people learn ethics and sincerity,” he said.
Haqqani also stressed that Afghans who opposed the Islamic Emirate in the past should be tolerated and treated in a way that helps eliminate hostility and animosity, paving the way for national cohesion.
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