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Asian Angle | With Iran-Afghanistan on the brink of a ‘water war’, who else might be drawn in?
- The Taliban has traded bullets with Iranian guards over water supplies and issues are also brewing with Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
- Recent canal and dam work could lead to a tipping point, with the EU, China and Russia not expected to be passive bystanders
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The perception of insecurity overflowing from Afghanistan into neighbouring countries has mainly centred on terrorist threats or drug smuggling.
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But a possible “water war” is another variable that is inserting itself with vehemence into the region’s threat matrix, with climate change and the ongoing food crisis already exacerbating water insecurity.
In May, along the nation’s border with Iran, the Taliban shifted from trading barbs to exchanging bullets with Iranian border guards, with fatal results.
One reason for the escalating tension may be traced to the militant group’s upgrades of the Kamal Khan and Kajaki dams on Afghanistan’s Helmand River, the nation’s longest, stretching 1,150km (710 miles).
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Taliban restarts war-postponed dam construction, sparking tension with Iran over water rights
Taliban restarts war-postponed dam construction, sparking tension with Iran over water rights
According to Iranian officials, the Taliban are now violating a six-decade old treaty over the amount of water flowing into Iran’s arid eastern areas by limiting what was previously agreed.
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