The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Afghanistan is scheduled to open a 121-kilometer gravel road in the remote Wakhan Corridor on Sunday, a project expected to improve access to the country’s border with China and potentially create a new trade route.
The road in Wakhan district of northeastern Badakhshan
province took three years to complete, according to local reports, according to Bakhtar News Agency-- a state media under the Taliban.
The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow, mountainous strip of land
in northeastern Afghanistan that provides the country’s only direct geographical
connection to China. It stretches about 260 kilometers through Badakhshan and
varies in width from roughly 12 to 60 kilometers.
The corridor took shape in the 19th century as a buffer zone
between the British and Russian empires. It borders Tajikistan to the north and
Pakistan to the south, extending east to Afghanistan’s short border with
China’s Xinjiang region.
Afghanistan has long sought to develop the corridor as a
direct trade and transit route to China, potentially diversifying its access to
regional markets. However, the rugged terrain, harsh weather, security concerns
and need for cross-border arrangements pose challenges to establishing a
reliable commercial route.
