POLITICS — April 18, 2026
Taliban Demolish Homes, Businesses and Historic Cemetery for Road Projects in Kabul
Taliban officials in Kabul are demolishing homes, businesses and a historic cemetery to widen roads as part of a plan inherited from the previous government. The work has caused a housing shortage and driven up rents in the capital.
The Ehtebar Desk — originates with Hasht-e Subh — 2 min read
Kabul is undergoing significant infrastructure changes as the Taliban implement a road modernization plan that includes demolishing numerous houses, businesses and parts of cemeteries.
The plan was originally designed under the previous US-supported Afghan government but was stalled for years by bureaucracy, corruption and the Taliban insurgency.
Nematullah Barakzai, spokesman for the Taliban municipality, said 450 kilometers of roads have been built in Kabul in the past four and a half years. He said 11,278 properties have been confiscated and more than 28 billion afghanis collected in that time, equivalent to about 434 million dollars.
In one example, in the Qala-e Khater area, part of a 200-year-old cemetery is being demolished for a new road. Graves are being emptied and bodies transferred elsewhere.
The demolitions are causing a housing shortage in Kabul and pushing up house rents.
The Taliban municipality continues to pursue the infrastructure upgrades despite the challenges posed to the city's population.
Read the original reporting at Hasht-e Subh →
Reliability assessment
Single source with direct on-record attribution to named official (Nematullah Barakzai, Taliban municipality spokesman) offering concrete, checkable details including specific numbers, locations (Qala-e Khater), historical context, and timelines. Article also references Associated Press reporting on the same events.
The source language mixes facts with framing or advocacy wording. Hasht-e Subh: "even destroy cemeteries" – uses "even" (حتا) for emphatic outrage implying desecration; "causing housing shortage and increase in house rents" – directly attributes negative socioeconomic consequences to Taliban actions with critical framing.
Independent web corroboration
A separate web search returned 8 matching reports. A selection:
Homes, businesses, even a graveyard are being razed across Kabul to make way for road construction. Widened roads, flyovers and underpasses are rapidly replacing narrow and often deeply pot-holed streets.
- Even the dead must make way as construction transforms Afghanistan's capital - The Economic Timeseconomictimes.indiatimes.com
But then the demolition crews arrived. The Taliban revive a plan to modernize the streets · Homes, businesses, even a graveyard are being razed across Kabul to make way for road construction.
- Even the dead must make way as construction transforms Afghanistan's capital | World | the-messenger.comthe-messenger.com
Homes, businesses, even a graveyard are being razed across Kabul to make way for road construction. Widened roads, flyovers and underpasses are rapidly replacing narrow and often deeply pot-holed streets.
Across the newsrooms
Filed by
Hasht-e Subh
Originating
Framed
Framed
Filed under
Politics — Kabul, Taliban, Road Construction, Nematullah Barakzai, Qala-e Khater
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