Afghanistan opens road linking Wakhan Corridor to China

Afghanistan officially opened a road on Sunday linking the country to China through the Wakhan Corridor in northeastern Badakhshan province, according to Tolo News.

Construction of the 121-kilometre (75-mile) unpaved road began two years ago. The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow strip of Afghan territory that separates Tajikistan from Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The project cost 365 million afghanis ($5.5 million). Speaking at the inauguration, Rural Rehabilitation and Development Minister Abdul Latif Mansour said the road was of strategic, political and economic importance to Afghanistan.

Mansour said Kabul had prioritised public projects, particularly in provinces most in need, and that the road was built without foreign engineers or advisers: “All the engineers are Afghans.”