A fire swept through the Ahmadi Market in the Kote Sangi area of Kabul on Monday morning. By the time it was extinguished six hours later, the flames had destroyed 200 shops. Shopkeepers say the Taliban refused to allow them to remove goods from their shops ahead of the flames. As a result, they estimate that the damage is estimated to cost the owners millions of afghanis.
While the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, an eyewitness tells Zan Times that it started on a higher floor. “The fire began on the third floor, and I could not even remove a single item from my goods,” says Jan Mohammad, who had three market shops destroyed by the fire. “The Taliban stopped us and beat several shopkeepers who tried to remove their goods.”
Another shopkeeper named Aryan says he was attacked by the Taliban, who “prevented me from taking out my goods. They hit me with the butt of a Kalashnikov on the leg. Now, I have trouble walking.” No fatalities were reported.
Aryan estimates that estimated capital burned in each shop ranged from 200,000 to two million afghanis, which means the overall financial loss could be at least 40 million afghanis or roughly US$450,000.
There are reports that the large fire at the Ahmadi market has also affected the next-door Abasin Zadran market. Six years ago, that commercial market also caught fire, causing damage of about 25 million dollars to the shopkeepers.
