Kandahar Province - Transport and Economy

Transport and Economy

Further information: Transport in Afghanistan and Economy of Afghanistan

Kandahar International Airport serves the population of southern Afghanistan, especially the Kandahar region, as a method of traveling to other domestic cities by air or to a number of nearby countries. The airport was built in the 1960s with US financial and technical assistance under the United States Agency for International Development program. The airport was severely damaged during the Soviet attacks on the city during 1979-89 and again during the US raids in late 2001. It has been heavily used by the US and NATO-led forces in the last decade. Repairs and upgrades also occurred during that period; the airport re-opened for civilian use in late 2006. Spin Boldak serves as a major transporting, shipping, and receiving site for the province.

Kandahar province has bus services to major towns or village headquarters. Its capital, Kandahar, has a public bus system that take commuters on daily routes to many destinations throughout the city. Besides the buses, there are yellow and white taxicabs that provides transportation service inside the city as well as throughout the province. Other traditional methods of ground transportation are also used. Private vehicles are on the rise in Kandahar, with large showrooms selling new or second-hand vehicles imported from the United Arab Emirates. More people are buying new cars as the roads and highways are being improved.

Kandahar had well-irrigated gardens and orchards, and was famous for its grapes, melons, and pomegranates, but these were made inaccessible by land mines or destroyed outright in the conflict between the Soviets and the guerrilla fighters during the Soviet occupation. The city is of significant strategic importance in the region due to the major airport built in the early 1970s with development funding from the United States. The main source of trade is to Pakistan, Iran and other regional countries. Kandahar is an agricultural state and several of the districts are irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority. The Dahla Dam is located in the province, north of the city of Kandahar.