Road traffic activity and emissions from vehicles is an important immediate source of air pollution in the city of Kabul. The transport sector faces challenges of illegal import of used vehicles, continued use of very old and poorly maintained vehicles (some vehicles are more than 60 years old), passenger and cargo overloading of vehicles, poor quality of transport fuel, and limited road capacity leading to air pollution.

The vehicle fleet in Afghanistan is dominated mostly by small cars and taxis, which together make up almost 50% of the total number of vehicles. The total number of vehicles registered in Afghanistan as of 2004 was 402,422, about 18% increase from 2003 and 129% from 2002.

A vehicle census of Kabul in 2005 registered a total of 341,047 vehicles, mostly small cars (66.2%), followed by trucks. The vehicle population is estimated to increase by approximately 11% annually.

To date, the Government has not compiled a comprehensive inventory of air pollutant emissions or not even an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions. Likewise, no source apportionment has ever been conducted to evaluate how much of the various sources contribute to particulate matter (PM) air pollution.

A comprehensive inventory of emissions from different sources in Kabul and two outlying provinces, however, is being compiled through the ADB project in Kabul. A link to the completion report will be available soon.

Afghanistan, through its Environmental Protection Agency, was the latest country to join CAI-Asia.