Officials of the Islamic Emirate said that the transfer of stored dried wood from the forests of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika provinces will be shipped to Kabul.

The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate adds that this decision was made for the purpose of addressing the problems of residents.

Some of the vendors and residents of Kabul welcomed this decision by officials in the Islamic Emirate.

The spokesman for the Islamic Emirate told TOLOnews that cutting and smuggling of any tree from the country's forests is prohibited and the government of the Islamic Emirate has allowed the transfer of dried wood from the forests reserves in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces for a month to Kabul to address the challenges of fuel shortages.

“Cutting down trees in forests is strictly prohibited. But some of the mountainous areas where forests were dried up, and previously had stored wood, those deposits in Paktia, Paktika and Khost were allowed to be transferred to Kabul within a month. If the wood reaches the water, it will break down,” Zabihullah Mujahid said.

"For six months the wood transfer had been blocked to Kabul and my car was stopped. Then now the government said that for the sake of the people and to care for the poor people, they allowed wood to enter Kabul for another month," said Abdullah, a wood seller.

"The roads were blocked, government officials would not allow wood to be brought to Kabul. That's why the price of wood was raised in the markets," said Sharifullah, a Kabul resident.

"Over the past few years, there has been positive change in the forests of the country. According to the collected figures, compared to previous years, there is a 32 percent increase in forests in the country, and in all soils, 389,000 hectares of land have been produced as new forests," said Mohammad Halim Rafe, the spokesman of the National Statistics Administration.

According to information from a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, the acting government has sponsored about 16,000 people under the name of 'Green Unit' to protect the cutting down of forests in Kunar, Nuristan, Paktia, Khost, Paktika and some other provinces to prevent the theft and smuggling of forests.