Afghanistan to start issuing passports again: Official

Kabul - Women would be employed to handle the processing of female citizens' documents, he said

Afghanistan will start issuing passports to its citizens again on Tuesday after months of delays, a senior official said.

Alam Gul Haqqani, the passport office's acting head, told reporters in Kabul they would issue between 5,000 and 6,000 passports a day and women would be employed to handle the processing of female citizens' documents.

Interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayeed Khosti told the briefing that 25,000 applicants had reached the final stage of payment for their passports, with roughly 100,000 applications in the earlier stages of the process pending.

Many Afghans, including those trying to flee the country, have had their travel hampered by delays in issuing passports.

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The process had already begun to slow before the Taliban took control of the country in August.

In recent days, local media reported several complaints by Afghans frustrated that the passport department remained closed despite repeated promises to resume operations.

• Asia