Gardez-Khost highway inaugurated

Construction work on a highway that connects Gardez (Paktia) with Khost City has been completed, and an inauguration ceremony was held today. Work on the highway had started 9 years ago.The 101 km long and 9 meters wide road was completed in two phases. The first phase (63km) was completed by an American construction company, Louis Berger Group / Black & Veatch. The second part (38km) was completed by the Afghan based Mashriq Construction Company. A large number of small bridges and protection walls were also created as part of the project, which was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) at a cost of $232 million. The hope is that this new highway will help improve the economic and security situation of both provinces.