JALALABAD (Pajhwok): The residents of eastern Nangarhar and Laghman provinces on Thursday demanded the government to bolster security on Kabul-Torkham Highway.
Latest spat of violence in which armed rebels killed three custom contractors and also abducted 13 passengers prompted the residents of the eastern zone to demand the authority to make travelling safe on the vital highway.
Ajmal Omar, secretary of Nangrahar provincial council, told Pajhwok Afghan News that Kabul-Torkham Highway remained insecure in recent past. The government should bolster security of the highway, he added.
Zahir Hussainkhail, secretary of Laghman provincial council, demanded security organs to focus on security of the main highway.
The commuters of Kunar and Nuristan provinces also travelled on Kabul-Torkham Highway. Fawad Akbar, one of the passengers from Kunar, said: “Kabul-Torkham Highway is a transit route of the country which should be secured.”
Around 47 kilometers road of Kabul-Torkham Highway passes through Laghman province. More than 300 armed insurgents based in the mountain were sporadically staging attacks on the highway. Brig. Gen. Dawood Amin, Laghman police chief, acknowledged sharp increase in violence but pledged police had the capacity to stop make the highway security for commuters.
“We have increased the number of check posts on the main high after the abduction of passengers and since then it is secured to travel on the road,” he added.
Nazir, a driver, complained the number of passengers had been waned due to insecurity on the main highway. “I have never witnessed armed rebels ever come on road but I have heard several times from passengers that militants were stopping vehicles and asking questions from passengers,” he added.
Ahmad Zia Abidzai, the spokesman for Nangarhar governor, said: “The highway is of great importance in terms of trade and travelling of passengers and the government has directed security agencies to take all possible measures to secure the road.”
shah/rm
