Afghanistan’s water push: Kabul wants control of rivers; Taliban canal projects increase alarm as fear of neighbors
After decades of war, Afghanistan is moving forward to claim sovereignty on its water resources, a change that is testing delicate relations with neighboring countries. Since assuming power in 2021, the Taliban has launched large -scale infrastructure projects, including dams and canals, to damage the flow of river spreading in Iran, Pakistan and Central Asia. But according to news agency AFP, these efforts are promoting disputes, with climate change, water scarcity in the entire region is deteriorating.
Central Asia on Alert Kush Tepa Canal
The most controversial initiative is the Qosh Tepa Canal, a mega-project designed to irrigate 560,000 hectares of farm in northern Afghanistan. Experts say that it may twist up to 21 percent of Amu Dariya’s flow, which is already an important river for water stressed Central Asian states. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, supported by Kazakhstan, have raised the alarm that the project may further reduce the Aral Sagar and destabilize the region’s water-sharing system, which may return to the Soviet era.Water -rule expert Mohammad Faizi warned and quoted by AFP, saying, “No matter how favorable tone is now, some points will result in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan when the canal begins to operate when the canal begins.”Taliban officials, however, will not cause significant damage to the canal. Project manager Saeed Zabihullah Miri was quoted by AFP saying that “there is an abundance of water in Amu Dariya, especially when it flows into floods and glaciers melted water”. They argue that the project is important to increase food security in a country where climate-operated crop failures and humanitarian crises remain widespread.
Iran revives the Helmond controversy
Iran, the western neighbor of Afghanistan, is the only country with a formal water-sharing treaty, signed the Helmond River in 1973. But the agreement was never fully honored. Tehran often accuses Kabul of restricting the flow through upstream dams, especially during the drought. The Taliban maintains the lack of water that deteriorates due to climate change, leaving them more unable to leave.A report from Afghanistan analysts network stated that Afghan authorities also believe that they have been denying their proper part of Helmand due to poor management and political neglect for a long time. Meanwhile, the dispute also boiled over the Harirud Basin, which flows in Iran and Turkmenistan, where Afghanistan recently inaugurated the Pashdan Dam. Analysts say that security risks may decrease after the war, accelerating such projects, re -shaping regional water mobility.
Pakistan is closely watching Kabul Basin
Earlier, Afghanistan shares the Kabul River Basin with Pakistan, which eventually feeds into the Indus. Unlike Iran, there is no treaty between the two neighbors. While water disputes have not dominated their rocky bilateral relations, efforts to revive and create new Kabul’s old river projects can lead to friction.Nevertheless, Afghanistan’s financial conflict and lack of technical expertise means that most massive projects will take years to complete. This delay may reduce immediate diplomatic concerns, but can deepen waiting pain for the Afghans to struggle with the capital and beyond.
Climate crisis drives displacement
Afghanistan’s water disputes cannot be separated from the deteriorating climate Emergency. According to the Migration (IOM) for the International Organization of the United Nations, about 400,000 displaced at the beginning of about 400,000, about five million people were affected by floods, droughts and other climate shocks. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned in July, “crop failure, dried pastures and missing water sources are pushing the rural communities on the shore.”In the north, the villagers were quoted by the AFP saying that they were pinning hopes on the Cota Tepa Canal to revive the farming, although its completion is still more than a year. In contrast, communities in western Herat have seen the Harirud river drought, forcing families who were brought down to return to barren land from Iran.Meanwhile, extreme rain has added another layer of crisis. Warm temperature means heavy falls, often destructive flash triggers floods. In Maidan Wardak, a community leader said, “I am about 54 years old, and we have never experienced such problems before.”Taliban officials reduce their efforts. Energy and Water Minister Abdul Latif Mansoor recently admitted that the canal and dam projects are going on, “The measures we have taken so far are not enough”. Limited wealth, international isolation and restrictive regime have left Afghanistan fighting to deal with the climate shock, even one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.For millions of Afghans, everything now comes in water, very low at drought, very high during floods, because the Taliban push to control rivers becomes a defined issue for the country and its neighbors.
