The region around Amu River has been important in the history of civilizations from the
Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex, and the area around Hairatan was important during early Indo-Iranian migration by the
Andronovo culture. In the early 1990s, Hairatan was the location of the 70th Division of General Abdul Momen, who was loosely aligned with
Abdul Rashid Dostum's
National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan. After Momen's 1994 death by an RPG missile attack, the 70th Division split and Dostum loyalist Colonel General Helaluddin took command. During the
presidency of Hamid Karzai, the town became an important strategic location for Afghanistan. NATO-trained
Afghan National Security Forces established bases to provide security and maintain border activities. The
Afghan Border Police are in charge of protecting the border while the Afghan National Customs regulate and monitor all trade activities. They are backed by the
Afghan Armed Forces. search a locomotive near the Hairatan border crossing point. A freight terminal in Hairatan is the terminus of one of three rail lines in Afghanistan - a 10 km (6 mile) link to Termez. In January 2010, the construction was started of a 75 km (50 mile) rail link from Hairatan to a terminal at
Gur-e Mar near the city of
Mazar-i-Sharif. The project, part of the transport strategy and action plan of the
Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, was contractually scheduled for completion by June 2011, but was complete ahead of schedule, in November 2010. In May 2010, then-U.S. Ambassador
Karl Eikenberry, the president of the
Asian Development Bank (ADB), several the Afghan ministers, and fellow ambassadors from
Japan,
Finland, and Uzbekistan attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony inaugurating the Hairatan rail line. The United States and Japan became the two largest shareholders in ADB. This rail link became the first phase of a larger rail network planned to link
Iran in the west and
Tajikistan via a line at
Sher Khan Bandar in neighboring
Kunduz Province to the east. These future lines will create a rail corridor through northern Afghanistan and enable freight coming from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to reach
Persian Gulf ports on rail. In 2023, the
Afghanistan Railway Authority (ARA) took control of the Hairatan-Mazar rail service. Meanwhile, the
Airitom Free Zone opened in neighboring Termez, which allows Afghans and other foreigners to stay there for up to two weeks without a travel visa. Many people from other provinces of Afghanistan visit Hairatan for
tourism purposes. == See also ==