Kabul: More than 16 million Afghans have received electronic or computerized national identity cards (ID) since the issuance of the national identity document began seven years ago, according to Mohammad Halim Rafi, spokesman of the country's National Statistics and Information Authority.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Rafi stated that since the start of the issuance of the national ID in 2018, over 16 million Afghans have received electronic national identity cards. Out of these, more than 10 million were issued over the past four years during the current government's tenure, as reported by the national Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA) on Sunday night.

The interim government has also established a national ID card destruction center in the United Arab Emirates to serve Afghans and is planning to open similar centers in Iran, Pakistan, Turkiye, and Saudi Arabia in the future, according to the official. The population of Afghanistan is approximately 36.4 million, based on official figures.