Afghanistan to begin work on TAPI gas pipeline

Afghanistan said on Wednesday work would begin on a $10 billion gas pipeline traversing South Asia as officials joined dignitaries in neighbouring Turkmenistan to celebrate its completion on that side of the border. Progress on the TAPI pipeline — running through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India — has been repeatedly delayed because of security issues in conflict-ravaged Afghanistan. “From today the operations will start on Afghanistan’s soil,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at the ceremony in comments broadcast by Afghan state television.