Recent Afghanistan Report Cont…

It’s an early start, back out onto the busy streets. Sunday is a normal business day in an Islamic country, trying to get anywhere in Kabul is a challenge, people, cars, roadblocks, convoys, everyone pushes. As a non-local this is where you feel most vulnerable, you stand out and more often than not you are stuck in traffic. The risk of a suicide bombing if you are near any ISAF vehicles / personnel is high, you don’t want to be caught in heavy traffic near a military convoy and there are plenty. Terrorism is not the only threat, kidnapping is a big business and Westerners are worth big bucks. If it is someone of value/senior the criminals sell that person onto the Taliban or AQ. Westerners with organizations and the UN types only move around in armor plated vehicles with close protection teams and at least 2 vehicles, they have good communication systems, each vehicle is tracked and watched carefully by their security providers back in an office. You need to vary your routine and not establish a pattern by using the same routes at a particular time. I hop quickly into our vehicle and off we go. Once in the ride we take careful note of who is behind us, make a few double back turns and pray that nobody is following, once clear we head off to the outskirts of Kabul. We are on our way to help children and their families in the displaced camps.