Photo taken on Oct. 9, 2022 shows the reconstruction site of a major highway in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Photo taken on Oct. 9, 2022 shows the reconstruction site of a major highway in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
The Taliban-run caretaker administration has started the reconstruction of a major highway in the southern Kandahar province, officials have said.

In the first phase, 55 km of the road linking Kandahar to the neighboring Zabul province would be reconstructed, followed by the reconstruction of highways linking Kandahar to Kabul and Kandahar to Herat, said Bakht Mohammad, who is with the reconstruction project.

The first phase project will be finished in five months with funds provided by the administration, the official said.

Abdul Baqi, another official with the reconstruction project, told Xinhua that the reconstruction of Kandahar-Zabul highway requires 250 million afghanis (2.84 million U.S. dollars) and is financed by the Ministry of Public Works.

The 450-km Kabul-Kandahar highway built with U.S. financial support in 2003 had been badly damaged during the presence of U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, which ended in late August last year.

The Taliban-run administration has promised to rebuild all the national infrastructures damaged or destroyed during the 20 years presence of foreign occupying forces in the war-torn country.