KABUL - Some members of the Meshrano Jirga, lower house of Parliament, on Sunday identified unemployment as the main cause of insecurity in the country.
Senator Fauzia Sadat called for reviving defunct industrial units across the country to generate work opportunities for unemployed youth.
Joblessness was one of the key reasons for the youth swelling the ranks of insurgent groups and the government must take concrete steps to address the problem, she stressed.

Over the last 10 years, the authorities had miserably failed to deal with the issue of unemployment among the youth, Sadat said.
Her colleague Abdul Hanan Haq Wayon also viewed unemployment as one of the principal causes of lawlessness in the country. "Workers have no respect in Afghanistan. Many commit different crimes due to unemployment."

Gulalay Akbari, another member of Meshrano Jirga, said: "All local skilled workers are unemployed and modern equipment has obviated the need for hiring them."
Investors "imported foreign workers" into the country, while hundreds of Afghans went to neighboring countries for work on a daily basis, Akbari complained.
Another member, Gul Ahmad Azimi, said insecurity and unemployment were inter-linked. Security could be ensured if work opportunities were made available to the young people, he added. The house debated the unemployment issue on International Labour Day. (Pajhwok)