Taliban Claims Rise in Kajaki Dam Water Level Amidst Tensions With Iran
Despite the Taliban’s previous claims of less water in the Kamal Khan and Kajaki dams, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported an increase in the water levels of the Kajaki dam.
Mohammad Ershad Ahmadi, a Taliban official in the electricity department of Kandahar, said that due to the increase in the water level and capacity of turbines in the Kajaki dam, the department supplies 24 hours electricity to Kandahar city now.
Recently, amid tensions between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic over the water rights issue from the Helmand River, Taliban officials had claimed that the Kamal Khan Dam does not have enough water to cross a distance of over 600 kilometers to reach Iran.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban’s foreign minister, on May 22, said that the group is committed to providing Iran’s water right according to the 1973 agreement, but the drought in the region must be considered too.
In response, Iranian officials had asked the Taliban to let an Iranian expert team assess the water levels inside Afghanistan.
Some of the Taliban officials, including Sher Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, had responded that dams are considered sensitive sites in Afghanistan and the Taliban will not allow Iranian experts to visit these sites.
