Ministry of interior reports marked decline in crime in past year

The Ministry of Interior Affairs’ spokesman Abdul Matin Qani said on Thursday during the ministry’s accountability report that over the past year more than 17,000 individuals were arrested across the country on different charges. 

He said in this time, 11,640 light and heavy weapons were seized, and 1,170 IEDs and hand grenades were found and confiscated.

“In the past year, there have been 12,283 criminal incidents across the country, 9,774 of which have been solved by the police, and 2,509 are being investigated by the police,” said Qani.

“From these criminal incidents, 17,217 suspects have been arrested by the police and 1,195 suspects are being prosecuted by the police,” he added. 

Qani stated that in the last 21 months, 20,322 criminal cases have been recorded in the country. This was a significant decrease against the same period two years ago under the former government which recorded 29,669 criminal incidents.

He said in the past year, about 160 kidnapping cases were reported to police, who launched 200 operations against kidnappers and arrested 190 individuals.

In the past year, 13 kidnappers have been killed in clashes with security forces and 44 hostages have been rescued.

He also said that over the past year, the ministry has rounded up 42,888 drug addicts, all of whom have been sent for rehabilitation treatment.