The Islamic Emirate officials said that efforts are underway to build a new tunnel on the Salang highway.

The spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Zabihullah Mujahid, said that the Salang tunnel is insufficient for the movement of both passenger and commercial vehicles. 

He also mentioned that the difficulties on this route will arise amid the winter season.

"The secondary roads of Salang should be created because the current tunnel is not enough for the volume that is needed and the amount of traffic that passes through this route, especially in the winter when it is early there and people face problems. The second tunnel can separate passenger commuters, from transit and commercial transport,” Mujahid told TOLOnews.

In a meeting with the deputy governor of Parwan, some Chinese engineers working on building and renovating the Salang tunnels said that they are surveying the second Salang tunnel project.

"A delegation from the Ministry of Public Works visited and they went to visit the areas near Salang for the survey of the second Salang tunnel,” said Sayed Hekmatullah Shamim, spokesman of Parwan's governor.

According to some economists, the construction of the new tunnel on the Salang highway would bring about a number of facilities for the expansion and growth of transit and trade.

"If the new tunnel in this area is completed and the Islamic Emirate is able to complete it, it can be very important from an economic point of view,” Qutbuddin Yaqoobi, an economist said.

Earlier, the deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, also said that the work of the second Salang tunnel will also begin as facilities have been provided.

The Salang highway is a heavily used route in the nation. In addition to serving as a link between the capital and the northern and northeastern provinces, it is also a major hub for the transportation of goods from Central Asian nations to South Asia.