The Taliban have announced that 135 shops were destroyed in a fire at the Bakhtar underground market in Mazar-e-Sharif.
The Taliban’s police command in Balkh said in a statement on Saturday, October 31, that the fire broke out on Friday.
Initial estimates indicate that the damage amounts to millions of dollars.
According to the Taliban, clothing and footwear shops, as well as several travel agencies, operated in the market.
The Taliban’s police command cited electrical short circuits and shopkeepers’ negligence as possible causes of the fire.
The Taliban also said that the market’s substandard construction, the lack of a proper firefighting system, and the absence of fire prevention measures contributed to the spread of the fire and the increase in damage.
