Afghan Post

Afghan Post is the national mail and courier organization of Afghanistan with its headquarters in Kabul.[1][2] It has offices in all 34 provinces and 420 or so districts of Afghanistan.[3]

Afghan Post
Logo of Afghan Post
Postal Administration overview
TypeGovernment organization
HeadquartersMinistry of Communications and IT, Mohammad Jan Khan Watt 1001 Kabul, Afghanistan
MottoFast Safe Secure
Postal Administration executive
  • Molaway Rahmatullah Maki[1], President
Parent departmentMinistry of Communications and Information Technology
Websitehttps://afghanpost.gov.af/en
Bamiyan themed postage stamp (1951) issued by Postes Afghanes (Afghan Post)

Most homes in Afghanistan, particularly in older neighborhoods and in the rural areas, do not have street addresses. Names and other descriptions may be used in place of street addresses.[4]

History

The first postal arrangements in Afghanistan are credited to Sher Ali Khan, who established a postal service in the 1860s as part of a program to modernize the country. In the late 1970s, it had grown into one of the stronger regional postal services, able to send and receive letters from anywhere in the world.

Timeline
  • 1870: Establishment of Balahisar Post office in Kabul and a post office in the center of each province of the country serving Primary Postal Services Affairs and Postal Stamps.
  • 1892: A Post Office near Arg was established.
  • 1908: Postal network developed more.
  • 1918: General Directorship of Post and Telegraph & Telephone was included in the Organization of the Interior Ministry.
  • 1918: A Post office was established in each of the big cities.
  • 1925: International post services began between Afghanistan and British India via Torkham.
  • 1928: General Directorship of Post and Telegraph & Telephone becomes and Independent Administration.
  • 1928: Afghanistan became of a member of the Universal Postal Union.
  • 1928: After having joined the Universal Postal Union and some other individual company agreement were signed.
  • 1929: Post is conveyed towards Torkham and Kandahar by vehicles.
  • 1929: Various type of deliveries such as letters, postcards, newspapers, magazine and other printed materials as well as parcels are made inside and outside of the country.
  • 1934: Title of the post administration from General Directorship of Telephone and Telegraph was changed into the Department of Telephone and Telegraph, and later on it was elevated to the Ministry of Communication.
  • 1973: Law of postal services was amended.

During the 1990s, the Afghan postal service was suspended due to a civil war in the country. Sending a letter usually meant having to find someone traveling in the direction of the recipient willing to carry a note and hoping for the best. It gradually began to develop in the mid 2000s during the presidency of Hamid Karzai, especially on mail and parcel delivery. Under director Ahmad Wahid Wais from 2017 to 2021, Afghan Post expanded its activities on freight, e-commerce and providing data services to government agencies.[5]

Early 2020s there were around 3000 postal points for the public to access those services: one or two post offices per province, one postal agent or agency at least per district. Wais extended the activities to freight and e-commerce.[5] From at least mid-2010s mail from Afghanistan is not posted with postage stamps.[5]

See also

References
  1. "AWCC, Afghan Post sign cooperation agreement". Ariana News. February 27, 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  2. "Afghanistan's Post Office Begins Online Services". TOLOnews. April 11, 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  3. "Decree converts Afghan Post to independent body". Pajhwok Afghan News. January 13, 2020. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  4. "Kabul: Streets with no names". BBC News. 2023-01-29. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
  5. Peter Hornung, "La philatélie au pays des Talibans" (Philately in the land of Talibans), Timbres magazine, April 2023, p.24-29.
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