In the very conservative country, drivers with such number plates are even laughed at by children, and car salesmen are struggling to shift any cars tagged with the number off their lots.
UN worker Mohammad Ashraf said: ‘Now even little kids say ‘look, there goes the 39’.
‘This car is a bad luck, I can’t take my family out in it.’
Exactly why 39 is so despised remains unknown – but it is rumoured to be connected with a well-known pimp in neighbouring Iran.
Apparently the said pimp became known as ’39’ because the dreaded number is on his number plate.
As a result, officers are being blamed for the superstition spreading across Afghanistan – to the dismay of the car dealers’ union.
Union head Najibullah Amiri has criticised officers for charging up to $500 to change the plates to ‘nicer’ numbers.
