Afghanistan builds its 1st domestic train engine

The Afghanistan interim government on Friday announced that the country has built its first domestic railway engine and soon will operate its own trains.

Afghan Taliban chief spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid posted on X a video of the railway engine carrying three bogies and said their National Development Company has manufactured its first train.

"The country's National Development Corporation built a train for the first time. With the ongoing construction of railway tracks, Afghanistan will soon operate its locally-made trains as well," he said.

According to the Afghan state-run media, Afghan and Kazakhstan senior officials met in Kabul on Thursday and discussed cooperation in railway sector.

Afghan Railway Ministry said that Kairat Turbayev, Kazakhstan's deputy minister for trade, outlined the projects currently being implemented by Kazakh companies in Afghanistan and expressed Kazakhstan's interest in transporting commercial and agricultural goods through Afghanistan, Bakhtar News reported.

The Kazakh deputy minister also conveyed his country's willingness to invest in Afghanistan's railway infrastructure.

The Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, following the pullout of the US-led forces after two decades of war.