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Kabul passport office head urges patience as anxious crowds keep gathering

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(Last Updated On: December 13, 2021)

The head of the Kabul Passport Office has asked for patience from thousands of Afghans waiting for documents as large crowds continue to gather outside, a month after the office suspended operations.

As winter closes in and the economic crisis deepens in the wake of the abrupt withdrawal of foreign aid after the Islamic Emirate of Aghanistan (IEA) takeover in August, the crowds around the biggest passport issuing centre in the country underline the desperate desire of large numbers of citizens to leave.

“We have done our best to reopen the office but we are still facing some equipment shortages,” passport office head Alam Gul Haqqani told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

Last month the office was forced to close after equipment used for issuing biometric documents broke down under the pressure of processing thousands of applications a day but demand has built steadily.

Even though the office has been closed for weeks, hundreds of people still gather outside the fortified compound clutching plastic document files.

“I am sure the office will restart and we will fulfill all applications,” Haqqani told Reuters. “I assure the nation that no one will leave our office with any reason to be upset.”

He appealed to people to stay away until the office is operational again.

“I am really sorry about this, I am upset because people are facing hardship. They’re wasting their money and standing here uselessly,” Haqqani said.

“The office is closed, our systems are not operational.”

A number of provincial passport offices are still open and officials in Kabul are processing around 2,000-3,000 passports from these offices each day, he said, but it was still unclear when the Kabul office would reopen.

As well as the equipment issues, Haqqani said officials were working on stamping out corruption and rooting out the so-called ‘Commissionkar’ – commission agents who promise to ensure swift treatment of applications for a fee, Reuters reported.

“We have arrested bribe takers, from inside and outside the office,” he said. “We will use any possible way to clean the country of bribe takers everywhere.”

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Hundreds killed and injured in floods in four Afghan provinces

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(Last Updated On: May 11, 2024)

Officials confirm that hundreds of people have been killed and injured after floods in Baghlan, Badakhshan, Ghor and Herat provinces of Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in a statement said that a large number of houses have been destroyed and people have suffered huge financial losses.

In the statement, the Ministry of State for Disaster Management, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, and the provincial authorities have been directed to use all their resources to save people, recover the bodies, and treat the injured.

The Islamic Emirate called on the citizens to assist the flood victims.

In Baghlan, Ziauddin, director of Baghlan-i-Markazi district hospital, said that 52 bodies, including 13 women and 13 children, have been taken to the hospital from the floods on Friday night. He added that 73 injured people have also been admitted.

In Takhar, Ahmad Siyar Sajid, the head of natural disasters management of the province, said that eight people died in Ishkemesh, Chal and Namak Ab districts of this province.

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Floods leave 50 dead in Baghlan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

Hedayatullah Hamdard, head of the Natural Disaster Department in Baghlan, says at least 50 were killed on Friday afternoon due to floods in several districts of the province.

Hamdard added the figure is not total and that the death toll may increase.

Over the past two days, floods have also caused huge financial losses in Chaharsada and Murghab districts of Ghor province and two people including a child and an old man have disappeared.

Hundreds of acres of agricultural land were destroyed in Chaharsada district and about 50 livestock were also lost.

According to local officials in Ghor, around 50 residential houses in Chaharsada district are under floods.

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Iran says work underway to block eastern border with Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: May 10, 2024)

Iranian officials say work is intensely underway on the implementation of plan to block the country’s eastern border with Afghanistan.

According to Iranian media, the commander of the Ground Forces of Iran spoke on Thursday at a ceremony in the city of Mashhad about the sealing of the country’s borders with Afghanistan.

Kioumars Heydari added: “According to the measures contemplated by the Islamic Republic, we are in the process of sealing the borders.”

He did not specify the exact timing for the completion of the border sealing plan between Iran and Afghanistan, but added: “Our estimate is that the sealing of the eastern border of the country will be completed as soon as possible.”

Afghanistan and Iran share more than 900 kilometers of common border.

Experts, meanwhile, believe that this will cause a change in dealings with Afghan immigrants.

The Islamic Emirate, however, says fencing on the borders of Iran and Afghanistan will proceed in coordination with the Afghan government.

According to experts, Iran is seeking to solve its security concerns and will spend a lot of money in the process of blocking the border but this border wall will be finished for the benefit of both countries, and drug trafficking and movement of terrorist groups will be at least under control.

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