Afghans' Petitions Pile Up At Kabul Passport Office, Taliban: We Did Our Best

JAKARTA - The head of the Kabul Passport Office has asked for patience from thousands of Afghans, waiting for documents allowing them to leave the country as large crowds continue to gather outside, a month after the office stopped operations.

As winter approaches and the economic crisis deepens after the sudden withdrawal of foreign aid, after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August, crowds around the country's largest passport-issuing hub illustrated the desperate desire of large numbers of citizens to leave.

"We have done our best to reopen offices but we are still facing some shortage of equipment," the head of Afghanistan's passport office Alam Gul Haqqani told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

Last month, the office was forced to close after equipment used to issue biometric documents broke down under the stress of processing thousands of applications a day, but demand continues to rise.

Even though the office has been closed for weeks, hundreds of people still gather outside the compound, carrying plastic document files, despite being regularly 'knocked down' by Taliban security forces.

"I am sure the office will restart and we will fulfill all applications. I assure the nation, no one will leave our office with any reason to be angry," said Haqqani.

He also appealed to the public to stay away until the office was operational again.

"I am very sorry about this, I am upset that people are facing difficulties. They are wasting money and standing here in vain. Offices are closed, our system is not operating," Haqqani said.

Provincial passport offices are still open and officials in Kabul process about 2.000-3.000 passports from these offices daily, he said, but it was still unclear when Kabul offices would reopen.

As well as the equipment issue, Haqqani said officials were working to stamp out corruption, rooting out the so-called 'Commissionkar', the commission's agency that promises to ensure quick treatment of applications at a cost.

"We have arrested the recipients of bribes, from inside and outside the office. We will use any means possible to rid the country of bribe-takers everywhere," he stressed.