KUNDUZ CITY: Nearly 400 entrepreneurs and traders have left northern Kunduz province for security reasons, badly affecting the economic condition of the province, officials said on Monday.
They include big traders who had been operating at the Sher Khan dry port, but shifted their capital to other provinces and foreign countries due to recent security issues in the province, export manager at Kunduz chapter of Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), Massoud Wahdat, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
The recent security disruption in Kunduz City also resulted in a 50 percent decrease in exports through the dry port, which was a big economic loss for the country especially for Kunduz, he said.
Wahdat said more than 2,100 traders were registered with his department.
Taliban captured Kunduz City on Sept. 28, 2015 for three days before being driven by Afghan security forces who recaptured the city step by step in about two weeks.
Two weeks after the debacle, ACCI officials had said the war caused more than $100 million losses to Kunduz revenue and badly affected small entrepreneurs.
“First of all, traders don’t like to come to Kunduz, but if they come where should they invest because there are Taliban five kilometres close to Kunduz City. The telecommunication towers do not operate during night and robbery incidents have increased,” a trader, Zaiul Haq, said.
Likewise, another trader Haji Bismillah complained about bad security on the Kunduz-Baghlan highway, saying the government was doing nothing to resolve security problems.
“If there is fragile security, no one can work. You saw Tajikistan closing its consulates in Kunduz and Badakhshan provinces due to bad security,” he said.
However, the commander of 808 Spin Ghar police zone, Sher Aziz Kamawal, said the Taliban were propagating to lower the morale of traders to leave Kunduz.
“Don’t listen to Taliban, we are ready to keep security of traders,” he said, adding they were providing all facilities for export and import activities of traders and were providing them security.
