Afghan Railway to Draw Taliban Fire as It Boosts Economy, NATO

By Eltaf Najafizada and James Rupert

May 5 (Bloomberg) — Workers are laying track across north Afghanistan’s rolling grassland for the country’s first rail line, a project that will boost the economy, supply NATO troops and become a target for Taliban bombs.
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“Railroads can reduce our isolation,” said Hamidullah Farooqi, a Kabul University economics professor and former transport minister, in a phone interview. “This is just the first line for a network that we hope can turn our country into a new trade route. That is what we need to create stability.”
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