In a well-coordinated plan, the Afghan government overnight blocked off mostly all streets leading into Kabul city center, preventing anyone from entering the area.
The move was undertaken ahead of a planned mass demonstration in the city on Monday, which activists expected would draw up to 200,000 people.
However, by 6am local time, Kabul residents began to realize that they were locked out of the main business, diplomatic and government district.
Shipping containers had been placed across roads – blocking all access, including pedestrian access. Not only were main roads blocked but side roads were also closed off.
Police manned checkpoints at these blockades and refused entry to mostly all people – including government officials.
Tempers however were starting to run high by about 7.30am local time as business people realized they would not be able to get to work.
“The government should have announced this. They should have announced a public holiday,” said one local office employee.
A mass demonstration had been planned for Monday in protest over the controversial electricity line from Turkmenistan to Kabul. Government recently said it planned to reroute the line through Salang, rather than run it through Bamiyan as originally agreed. However, this sparked a public outcry in the past week.
This move to block streets is largely believed to be an effort on government’s side to prevent demonstrators from accessing the city and making their way to the Presidential Palace. However, it has also affected thousands of office workers and business people who work in the area. http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/25307-govt-shuts-down-kabul-city-blocks-roads-with-containers
Comments are closed.