A parliament discussion on the security of the Kabul-Kandahar highway flared up after MP Kamal Nasir Osuli took the government’s side and said the security of the key highway is better than when the country was in civil war. 

“The values that a republic government should have do not exist in this republic,” said Khan Agha Rezaee, head of the security committee of the parliament. 

“The current republic, over the last 20 years, is better than 1992. People were killed in Kabul in 1993 and in 1994, people got married with boys on the Kabul-Kandahar Highway,” said Kamal Nasir Osuli, an MP from Khost. 

Osuli's comments drew harsh reactions from MPs representing the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand. 

“If you are comparing today’s republic with the republic of 1370s (1990s), where is that republic today? Whose children are safe? Who is safe? It is not fair to insult others,” asked Gul Ahmad Kamin, an MP from Kandahar. 

“Mr. Osuli, what bad memory do you have from Helmand?” asked Karim Atal, an MP from Helmand. 

Lawmakers called Osuli’s remarks an insult to residents of southern provinces. 

“Lawmakers from Kandahar should not allow such individuals who are engaged in slavery to come here and insult (others),” said Malalai Ishaqzai, an MP from Kandahar. 

Osuli apologized for his remarks and said, “the issue is not about great Kandahar.” 

“I apologize if respected lawmakers from great Kandahar were annoyed,” Osuli said.