A lack of parking space in Kabul has long been a source of problems for residents of the capital, but it has now also begun to disrupt the broader commuting community as well.
Based on statistics, close to 10,000 vehicles park illegally on the sides of roads daily. Without designated parking areas, many of these cars end up causing traffic jams and blocking roads all together.
"Roads are blocked, but if there was parking, it wouldn't be blocked like this," a driver named Muhammad told TOLOnews.
Traffic police are expected to enforce parking laws and keep cars from parking along the sides of roads, but reportedly their most common method of enforcement is popping holes into the tires of cars illegally parked. And given they are intended to keep cars out of those spaces, immobilizing the cars is unlikely the best strategy.
"I ordered that the vehicles should not be punctured, but I request that the residents of Kabul not park their cars everywhere, they should park it somewhere appropriate so its not stolen," Kabul Police Chief General Zahir Zahir said.
But where, exactly, that "appropriate" place is remains in question. Many Kabul drivers argue that there is simply no appropriate place because no parking garages or lots have been built.
"The municipality's responsibility is to provide parking to the people," a driver named Khalil Rahman said.
Likely compounding the issue of sparse space is the fact that more residents own cars and more people are commuting into the capital than ever before.
Traffic officials in Kabul were on the defensive, arguing that traffic in the capital observed the normal patterns of any other city with heavy traffic during rush hours and light traffic at other times.
"We only have problems in the central areas, there aren't problems in the other areas," Kabul's Traffic Director General Asadullah said. "Rush hour is in the morning and in the evening, but its fine other times."
However, the issue of cars being parked illegally due to a lack of options remains an issue city officials seem to want to address.
"We put it forward for private companies to bid for building parking lots, but unfortunately no one participated because our private sector doesn't know the profitability of parking lots," Kabul Mayor Muhammad Younus Nawandesh explained.
Over five million people are said to live in Kabul with some 500,000 vehicles commuting through the city on a daily basis.