The United Nations has built 470 kilometers of much needed water canals in Afghanistan in the past year in cooperation with local communities, the World Food Program (WFP) confirmed.

WFP in Afghanistan said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday that the canals were built in order to provide access to water to more people across the country.

The agency said the people “in Afghanistan cannot continue their lives without access to water,” adding that the canals help farmers irrigate crops, which allows them to feed their families and sell surplus produce.

This comes after years of drought across the country. However, in the past few months, good rain has been recorded which will hopefully result in good harvests this year.

The deputy prime minister for policy, Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, met with Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, at Sapidar Palace on Tuesday and discussed issues around the quality of domestic products and the need to grow and develop the industrial sector.

Azizi said that good trade relations with neighboring countries has resulted in stable prices of goods in the country.

He said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry works closely with the private sector. As a result, the private sector functions in a befitting manner and the Islamic Emirate has provided necessary facilities.

Azizi said that based on the Islamic Emirate’s good economic policies, there has been a significant development in the import/export sector in the country.

Kabir in turn voiced appreciation for efforts by the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and said: “The unprecedented efforts of the IEA’s administrations and the stability of the Afghan currency caused the price of food ingredients to remain in the right state and our people also be able to buy essential materials.”

He emphasized the need to work for a balance in trade with neighboring countries, and said more efforts were needed to improve the quality of domestic products and to grow the sector.

Russia and Tajikistan conducted a joint four-day military exercise along the border with Afghanistan in order to be prepared for any “potential threats”, Tajik media reported this week.

Russian military personnel from the 201st military base in Tajikistan participated in this exercise. Reports stated military personnel practiced various combat tactics, especially tactics to counter terrorist groups that illegally enter Tajikistan.

This comes amid repeated concerns expressed by Afghanistan’s neighbors about what they claim are terrorist threats originating from Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on the drills but has repeatedly denied the presence of terrorist groups in the country. The IEA has also continuously said no militant group will be allowed to threaten another country from Afghanistan.