Bus passengers defy Taliban on road to renewal

KABUL-KANDAHAR ROAD, Afghanistan | The mood inside the bus is grave and doubtful. The passengers have come with suitcases, cardboard boxes, cloth bundles and flasks of green tea.

The time of day - it is still before 3 a.m. - and what the travelers all know about the journey ahead creates a mood you might expect of prisoners of war being transported to an uncertain fate.

“When you´re on the bus, you don´t talk with the people you don´t know in case they´re with the Taliban,” said 19-year-old Asadullah, an electronic spare-parts dealer who, like many Afghans, uses only one name.

Mr. Asadullah and the 55 other passengers are taking a ride like no other. In fact, many people think the 300-mile highway that links Kandahar and Kabul - Afghanistan´s two largest and most economically vital cities - is the most dangerous stretch of road on the planet.

Completed 56 months ago, the road was meant to open a gateway to economic development and improve the quality of life for Afghans.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony in December 2003, the U.S. State Department touted the $190 million project as “the most visible sign of America’s postwar reconstruction” in Afghanistan.

Today, the road is a symbol of instability across the country. It reflects the inability of the Afghan government and international security forces to maintain law and order, and the increasing presence of the Taliban.

Government and military officials say insurgents and bandits commonly pull travelers from their vehicles, then kill them or kidnap them for ransom.

Afghan security forces are widely thought to accept bribes and collaborate with insurgents and robbers. Roadside bombs frequently target Afghan police and military patrols, along with NATO convoys. No one in an official capacity can even quantify the violence.

“I have to take these risks,” said Mr. Asadullah, who makes the treacherous journey between Kabul and Kandahar once a month. “I have to make money to buy food for my family.”

Ramazan Shafaq, Afghanistan’s transportation ministry’s planning director, sums up the current state of the road in a simple sentence:

“It’s a big catastrophe.”

Responsibility for security along the highway initially was handed to Afghanistan’s national police, but shortages of men and weaponry, and the recent increase in violence along the road, have forced the government to deploy military units as reinforcements.

Gen. Abdul Alim Kohistani, the regional police commander who oversees the territory, said he has just 180 men to man the 14 checkpoints along the 300-mile route. The commander said he needs at least 320 more officers and heavier firepower to provide adequate security.

“The Taliban has [rocket-propelled grenades] and mortars. How can we fight them when we only have PKs, AK-47s, and fewer men?” Gen. Kohistani asked, referring to the machine guns and rifles his men carry. “We want to take control of this highway and show the world and the Afghan people that we are capable of doing this.”

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