Afghanistan’s new Kunar River Dam Project, dubbed the “Afghanistan Water Bomb,” escalates the Afghanistan-Pakistan water dispute, threatening South Asia’s stability.
TheInterviewTimes.com | October 24, 2025 | Kabul/Islamabad — A new flashpoint is emerging in South Asia’s fragile geopolitics as the Taliban launches the Kunar River Dam Project, triggering what experts call the “Afghanistan Water Bomb” — a move that could severely restrict water flow to Pakistan and intensify the Afghanistan Pakistan Water Dispute.
The order, personally issued by Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, directs Afghanistan’s Ministry of Water and Energy to begin immediate dam construction on the Kunar River, a vital tributary feeding into Pakistan’s Indus River Basin.
The Kunar River Dam Project: A Strategic ‘Water Bomb’
On October 23, 2025, Afghan authorities confirmed that domestic companies will take the lead on the Kunar River Dam Project, designed to boost energy generation and irrigation across eastern Afghanistan.
According to Acting Water and Energy Minister Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, the new dams will produce 45 megawatts of power and irrigate 150,000 acres of farmland, marking one of Afghanistan’s largest hydropower undertakings in decades.
“The Supreme Leader has ordered the Ministry to start construction immediately using Afghan resources,” Mansoor said at a press conference in Kabul.
Analysts say this aggressive push reflects Kabul’s intent to leverage water as a strategic resource, with the Afghanistan Water Bomb now seen as a symbol of its assertion over transboundary rivers.
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Afghanistan Water Bomb: Afghanistan Pakistan Water Dispute Deepens
The Kunar River originates in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains, flowing roughly 480 kilometers before entering Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as the Chitral River. It later joins the Kabul and Indus Rivers, forming a lifeline for millions in Pakistan.
However, unlike India and Pakistan — bound by the Indus Waters Treaty — there is no water-sharing agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This legal vacuum has allowed both sides to act unilaterally, fueling the long-standing Afghanistan Pakistan Water Dispute.
Global Affairs Expert Mahendra Singh warns that if the Kunar River Dam Project diverts or stores significant flow, it could reduce Pakistan’s downstream water supply by up to 17%, threatening irrigation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, drinking water reserves, and hydropower generation.
Afghanistan Water Bomb: Regional Tensions and the ‘Water War in South Asia’
This latest move comes amid escalating border clashes along the Durand Line that killed hundreds between October 11 and 19, 2025. Pakistan accuses Kabul of sheltering TTP militants, while Afghanistan blames Islamabad for cross-border strikes. A ceasefire brokered by Qatar on October 20 provided only temporary calm.
The situation mirrors India’s April 2025 decision to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty after the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. With both India and Afghanistan restricting river flows, Pakistan now faces what experts describe as a “two-front water war in South Asia.”
“Water is emerging as the new weapon of influence in the region,” said Dr. Hassan Abbas, water policy expert at LUMS University. “The Afghanistan Water Bomb marks the next phase of hydro-political rivalry.”
Pakistan’s Response and International Implications
While Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has yet to issue an official statement, senior sources in the Ministry of Water Resources have described the Afghanistan Water Bomb as a “serious threat to national water security.”
Islamabad is expected to raise the issue at the United Nations, World Bank, and SAARC forums, though enforcement may prove difficult given the absence of a treaty.
The move also rekindles tensions over the Salma Dam (Afghan-India Friendship Dam), completed in 2016 with Indian assistance — a project Pakistan has long viewed as evidence of India’s growing footprint in Afghanistan’s water infrastructure.
Afghanistan Water Bomb: What Lies Ahead
The Taliban has not released a timeline for the Kunar River Dam Project, but satellite data and procurement records in the coming weeks may reveal the project’s true scale.
Without an immediate framework for dialogue, observers warn that the Afghanistan Pakistan Water Dispute could harden into a sustained Water War in South Asia, with devastating implications for regional stability, agriculture, and human security.