Afghanistan inaugurates Wakhan Corridor road linking country to China - Anadolu Ajansı

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

Construction of the 121-kilometer (75-mile) unpaved road began two years ago, according to Tolo News. The road connects Afghanistan to China’s Xinjiang region.

The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow strip of Afghan territory in Badakhshan province, separating Tajikistan from Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The road cost 365 million afghanis ($5.5 million) to build.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development Abdul Latif Mansour said the road holds strategic, political and economic importance for Afghanistan.

Kabul has “prioritized such public projects, especially in provinces that are most in need. There are no foreign engineers or advisers; all the engineers are Afghans,” he said.