Afghanistan stretch: 7000-strong security force to guard TAPI pipeline

Afghan minister says demining of the pipeline route to start in three months

A 7,000-member security force will keep security for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project during its implementation, Afghanistan’s Mines and Petroleum Minister Daud Shah Saba said the other day.

“Demining of the route the TAPI pipeline would cross would begin in three months,” he said.

The 1,800 km pipeline aims to export up to 33 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. A 750km portion of the pipeline would pass through Afghanistan’s Herat, Farah, Helmand and Kandahar provinces reaching Pakistan.

However, on Sunday, a number of Meshrano Jirga or upper house members expressed their concern about the security situation of the project route.

Senator Maulvi Muhayuddin Munsif said: “Apart from insecurity, there are no other challenges in the implementation of the TAPI project. If security is not improved and Helmand province where the pipeline would pass is not cleared of rebels and mines, it would be impossible to implement the project.”

Meshrano Jirga Secretary Abdullah Qarlaq also said the TAPI implementation would face problems if militants were not eliminated in areas along the TAPI project route.

However, Daud Shah Saba told the house that the project was not under any security threat. He said there were no big security problems in Herat, Kandahar and Farah provinces and the security problems in Helmand would be resolved with the deployment of special security forces there.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 29^th, 2015.