Transport
A Kam Air passenger plane at Kandahar International Airport in 201
Kandahar International Airport serves as southern Afghanistan's main airport for domestic and international flights. It is also used as a major military base as well as shipping and receiving of supplies for the NATO armies. The entire area in and around the airport is heavily guarded but a section is designated for civilian passengers. Most international flights are with Dubai, Germany, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
A railroad track from the Pakistani town of Chaman to Kandahar is under way, which will connect Afghan Railways with Pakistan Railways. The feasibility study was completed in 2006, allowing for the next step to lay-down the rail track.
Kandahar is connected to Kabul by the Kabul-Kandahar Highway and to Herat by the Kandahar-Herat Highway. There is a bus station located at the start of the Kabul-Kandahar Highway, where a number of privately owned older-model Mercedes-Benz coach buses are available to take passengers to most major cities of the country. Kandahar is also connected by road to Quetta in neighboring Pakistan. Due to the ongoing war the route to Kabul has become increasingly dangerous as insurgent attacks on convoys and destruction of bridges make it an unreliable link between the two cities.
Commuters of the city use the public bus system (Milli Bus), and taxicabs and rickshaws are common. Private vehicle use is increasing, partially due to road and highway improvements. Large dealerships are importing cars from Dubai, UAE.
Education
Children from the Zarghona Ana High School watch members of Afghan National Security Force and Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team prepare for the Kandahar Nursing and Midwifery Institute grand opening ceremony in 2012.
Before the 1978 coup in Kabul, majority of the city's population were enrolled in schools. Nearly all of the elite class of the city fled to neighboring Pakistan during the early 1980s, and from there they began immigrating to North America, the European Union, Australia and other parts of the world.
The two oldest known schools are Ahmad Shah Baba High School and Zarghona Ana High School. There are a number of new schools that opened in the last decade, with more being built in the future as the city's population grows with the large returning Afghans from neighboring countries. Afghan Turk High Schools is one of the top private schools in the city. The main university is Kandahar University. A number of training centers have also opened in the last decade.
Communications
Telecommunication services in the city are provided by Afghan Wireless, Roshan, Etisalat, MTN Group and Afghan Telecom. In November 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Communications signed a $64.5 million agreement with ZTE for the establishment of a countrywide fiber optical cable network. This was intended to improve telephone, internet, television and radio broadcast services not just in Kandahar but throughout the country.
Besides foreign channels, Afghanistan's local television channels include:
- Ariana TV
- Ariana Afghanistan TV
- Lamar TV
- Shamshad TV
- Tolo TV
- Hewad TV
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