March 26, 2021
A huge fire has erupted at a second border crossing point with Afghanistan the second such blaze in just three weeks.
The remarkable coincidence prompted speculation that the two blazes were cases of arson. Truck drivers have been protesting an Afghan effort to raise taxes for several weeks.
Both fires were on the Afghan side of the border and the Afghan authorities have said nothing about the causes of either.
Iran has three border crossing posts with Afghanistan. The first fire broke out February 13 at the Dogharoon-Islam Qala post in the north and consumed what has been estimated at 500 tanker trucks and other trucks all parked close together as their drivers sought to process customs documents. (See last issue of Iran Times, page three.)
The second fire erupted at the Mahirood-Abu Nasir Farahi crossing point on March 6. That post is the middle of the three crossing posts. The fire consumed three oil storage tanks. News reports said Afghanistan had no fire equipment at the border post and Iranian firefighters had to come across the border to put out the blaze. Strong winds helped to spread the fire.
The third border crossing post is Zaraj-Milak in the south. The vast majority of all commerce passes through the northern post because the other two lead to areas largely controlled by the Taliban.
Afghanistan still says that no one died in the fire last month at the northern border crossing. But some news reports say a number of the drivers of the trucks that burned have still not been accounted for.