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International relations

Taliban vow to finish disputed canal at 'any cost'

Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbors cry foul over plans to tap shared river

Afghanistan's under-construction Qosh Tepa irrigation canal aims to turn some 550,000 hectares of desert land into usable farmland.   © AFP/Jiji

KABUL -- A massive canal project in Afghanistan has alarmed the country's neighbors over fears it will drain a river key to their agricultural economies, but the ruling Taliban is warning that it will press on at any cost.

The fundamentalist Afghan regime inherited the long-stalled project after it retook control of the country two years ago. Since then, it has touted the Qosh Tepa irrigation canal as a signature infrastructure build, aiming to turn some 550,000 hectares of desert into usable farmland.

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