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Death toll rises to eight after landslide at Afghanistan-Pakistan border crossing
The death toll from a massive landslide earlier this week that buried a convoy of trucks waiting to cross from Pakistan into Afghanistan has risen to eight, AFP reported on Saturday.
Tuesday’s pre-dawn landslide hit the Torkham border post, the busiest trade and transit point between the two countries, as more than 100 trucks were waiting to cross.
“So far we have recovered seven dead bodies,” said Pakistani rescue services spokesperson Bilal Faizi, adding that “an operation is ongoing to recover an eighth body” from the debris.
A total of 20 trucks were buried in the accident in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with rescue services initially reporting two deaths.
The brunt of the slide hit around 120 meters from the main border crossing, causing fires as drivers were cooking meals on gas hobs ahead of daylight fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“Our workers are close to the eighth dead body, they can see it,” said Faizi. “We had removed 60 percent of the debris, but yesterday another landslide occurred in the same area so the rescue operation was delayed.”
District deputy commissioner Abdul Nasir Khan confirmed the death toll and said road traffic had resumed on Thursday.
The cause of the landslide was not clear in the immediate aftermath, but one official said Tuesday that heavy machinery had been in use for months on an expansion project in the hills surrounding the border post.
Torrential overnight rain may also have contributed, the official said.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior Affairs has called on the United Nations and the international community to condemn drug cultivation and production in Pakistan, saying that narcotics grown and processed in Balochistan are smuggled to other countries, including Afghanistan.
Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani told Ariana News on Tuesday that thousands of hectares in Pakistan’s Balochistan province are used to cultivate narcotic crops. He also claimed that drugs produced in Pakistan are of low quality and pose serious risks to human health.
Qani urged international bodies to take action to prevent drug cultivation, production and trafficking.
A recent report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing satellite analysis by British firm Alcis, said that more than 9,000 hectares of land were under poppy cultivation in Balochistan, particularly in Loralai and Killa Abdullah.
Bloomberg News has reported that the US government is planning to deport some detained Afghan migrants to Pakistan, including relatives of Afghans who worked with US forces.
Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing a US federal government official, immigration lawyers and advocacy organizations, that some detained Afghans had been informed they could be deported to Pakistan in the coming weeks.
According to the report, US officials have not yet publicly commented on the plan, and it remains unclear how many Afghans would be included in the potential flight.
AfghanEvac, an organization that supports Afghans who worked with US forces, said it had received information indicating that a special flight was being considered to transfer some detained Afghans from the state of Louisiana.
According to the organization, some detainees had been told they would be sent to Pakistan, while others had been informed that Afghanistan was their destination. Citing its sources within the US government, AfghanEvac added that Pakistan could potentially be used as a transit route to send these individuals to Afghanistan.
The reported plan comes after the United States previously deported a group of migrants, including 12 Afghan nationals, to the Central African Republic. Among those deported was a young Afghan man whose brothers had worked with US forces.
Latest News
Afghanistan signs AFN 1 billion water supply deal to benefit 50,000 Kabul families
The initiative aims to strengthen water supply infrastructure in the 17th district and improve residents’ access to drinking water.
Afghanistan’s state-owned Urban Water Supply and Sewerage Corporation has signed a AFN 1 billion contract with private company Paktia Mawoj to develop a water supply project expected to benefit around 50,000 families in Kabul’s 17th Police District.
Mohammad Nabi Bahar, spokesperson for the General Directorate of State-Owned Companies, said the project will combine surface water from the Shah wa Arus Dam with supplies from five deep wells.
The system is designed to provide a total of 200 litres of water per second, comprising 100 litres per second from the dam and another 100 litres per second from the wells.
Bahar said the project is expected to be completed and handed over for public use within three years.
The initiative aims to strengthen water supply infrastructure in the 17th district and improve residents’ access to drinking water.
With an estimated investment of AFN 1 billion, the project represents a major planned infrastructure development for the Afghan capital.
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