ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered the authorities to take measures to “root out” corruption at checkpoints along two key highways linking the port city of Karachi with the border with Afghanistan.
In a memo dated September 4, Khan’s office said that he has been informed by unidentified sources about “rampant rent seeking from goods transport” by members of state agencies and entities including police, customs, coast guard, and paramilitary forces.
It can be “safely presumed” that the money extorted from transporters and traders along the Karachi-Torkham and Karachi-Chaman highways “is shared with upper hierarchy at different levels,” the memo said.
As a result, Khan ordered respective entities to revise and develop operating procedures, reduce the number of checkpoints where possible, and convert those located nearby to be converted into “multi-agency” posts.
The 1,820-kilometer Karachi-Torkham highway is a major north–south artery in Pakistan that extends from Sindh Province's capital to the border town of Torkham in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Karachi-Chaman highway stretches more than 800 kilometers, passing through Quetta in the southwestern province of Balochistan and the border town of Chaman.
Most of the trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan goes through these two routes.
Khan Wants To 'Root Out' Corruption Along Pakistani Highways
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
Editor's Picks
Afghanistan/Pakistan Trending
1
From Offshoot To 'Spearhead': The Rise Of IS-K, Islamic State's Afghanistan Branch
2What's Behind The Deadly Surge Of Violence In Pakistan's Balochistan?
3Facebook Restrictions The 'Last Nail In The Coffin' For Free Speech In Afghanistan
4Iran's Afghan Community Worried About Prospect Of War With Israel
5Could Taliban Canal Spark Water War In Central Asia?
6RFE/RL Freelance Journalist Attacked By Armed Men In Islamabad
7Chinese Investigators Arrive In Pakistan To Probe Suicide Attack That Killed 5 Of Its Nationals
8Flash Flooding Kills At Least 33 People In Kabul, Other Afghan Regions
9Taliban Pulls 2 TV Channels For 'Violating Islamic Values'
10Little Cheer As Afghans Mark Eid Under Taliban Rule
Subscribe