Taliban to build dam to limit water to Pak

IN a move that could have farreaching consequences for Pakistan's already strained water and energy security, Afghanistan's Taliban government has said it will build a series of dams on the Kunar River.

- JAYANTH JACOB @ New Delhi

Taliban's announcement comes on the heels of India's decision in April to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and signals Kabul's determination to assert its 'water sovereignty'.

According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Information, Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the Ministry of Water and Energy to begin dam construction on Kunar "as fast as possible" and award contracts to domestic firms.