Lorenzo Tugnoli

From Kabul to Kandahar along the highway of death

A travel along the artery that connects the nation’s two largest cities, Kabul and Kandahar the story narrates the scars of the war and the challenges ahead.Highway 1 is a ring road that connect the main cities of Afghanistan. Largely rebuilt after 2001 with American funding at a cost of at least $300 million, the highway was intended to win the hearts and minds of Afghans and bolster the nation’s economy, instead, it became a war zone and a symbol of American failure.

A travel along the artery that connects the nation’s two largest cities, Kabul and Kandahar the story narrates the scars of the war and the challenges ahead.
Highway 1 is a ring road that connect the main cities of Afghanistan. Largely rebuilt after 2001 with American funding at a cost of at least $300 million, the highway was intended to win the hearts and minds of Afghans and bolster the nation’s economy, instead, it became a war zone and a symbol of American failure. Control of this main thoroughfare was vital and the signs of the battles are still visible around it. Taliban fighters are now Afghanistan’s rulers again, the Americans have left but millions of Afghans are struggling to survive in the economic crisis that ensued.
The road from Kabul to Kandahar flows through five provinces: Kabul, Wardak, Ghazni, Zabul and Kandahar. Along the road we meet with groups of Taliban who used to plant roadside bombs or who now control former American bases. We meet with civilians injured by the war and impoverished but the new economic crisis. We meet with the Hazara community, historically persecuted by the Taliban and hear their concerns about the future and we meet with school teachers that are struggling to defend the rights for female students to keep attending schools.
Finally, in Kandahar we visit the failed projects built by the Americans and the hospital where dozens of malnourished children are trying to survive.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: A destroyed bridge along highway near Kandahar is a reminder of the enormous cost of rebuilding Afghanistan after two decades of war. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Southbound traffic slowly proceeds through Taliban security checks at a post that marks the southern exit from the city of Kabul along Highway 1. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: The Afghan Army base located on this hill used to mark the last outpost under government control on the southern edge of Wardak city. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Zalmay Adil, 16, collects money for the local madrasa along Highway 1 near his native village of Andar. Once the madrassa taught the youth about jihad, or holy war, and prepared them ideologically to join the Taliban and fight American forces and their Afghan allies. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: A group of Taliban militant gather in what used to be their hide out in the village of Andar. They used to stage attacks and plant IEDs along the stretch of Highway 1 near the village. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: A group of Taliban show us weapons that they used during the war. They used to stage attacks and plant IEDs along the stretch of Highway 1 near the village. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: A group of Taliban militant gather near the site of an explosion along Highway 1. ItÕs where the squad had once detonated a bomb as a military convoy passed. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Badam Gul canÕt forget the years when the Taliban, he said, used the villagers as human shields. One day, about six years ago, the Taliban stormed into his home in the village of Dogyon to target the nearby Afghan police check point. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Intense fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan government forces dragged on for years in the village of Dogyon. In this house Taliban militants dug tunnels to move from one building to the next during the fightings. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Eleven-year-old Maleeha is blind from one eye. When she was seven, she was tending to the familyÕs cows and sheep with her two brothers. As they walked near a checkpoint, a roadside bomb landed by the Taliban exploded, said her father, Haji Ali Khan. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 14: Intense fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan government forces dragged on for years in the village of Dogyon. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 17: Electric poles run along Highway 1 in a deserted area of Wardak province. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 17: Ibrahim Salehi walks towards the Mohammad Mustafa Mosque, GhazniÕs largest Shiite center of worship. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 17: Ibrahim Salehi is the imam of Mohammad Mustafa Mosque, GhazniÕs largest Shiite center of worship. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 17: Ibrahim Salehi is the imam of Mohammad Mustafa Mosque, GhazniÕs largest Shiite center of worship. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Shop keepers prepare their stalls in the market of an Hazara neighbourhood in Ghazni city. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Taliban militants walks inside a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Destroyed structures in a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: A Taliban militant rests inside a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Ammunition cases are abandoned in a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Destroyed structures in a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Armoured vehicles and living quarters are now in a former US military outpost along the highway, in the Askarkot area of Ghazni province. When American forces left, they handed it over to the Afghan National Army. In July, the Taliban seized it without much of a fight. It is now home to roughly 150 militants. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Young men pile scrap metal used to secure Hesco barriers from former US and ANA bases. The Taliban are already stripping down former bases and selling the scrap metal for profit. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: A 19-year-old female employee of Shamla radio station now spends her days at her parentÕs home. Music or female voice are not allowed on air any more. Any news negative about the Taliban is self-censored because the militants have warned that the employee would be arrested. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: In some sections of Highway 1 the asphalt have been worn out by the passage of heavy vehicles and is in need of repair. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: Torjan and his extended family are camped in a deserted area near the highway in Zabul province. These are AfghanistanÕs pastoral nomads known as Kuchis who migrate from area to area every year with their animals in search of food, water and work. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: The Kuchis, AfghanistanÕs pastoral nomads, migrate from area to area every year with their animals in search of food, water and work. The drought, this year have hit hard these nomadic communities, the ground, once flush with vegetation, now has the texture of dust. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 18: In Zabul Province the highway flattens out into desert-like terrain. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: Girls above 6th grade are attending classes at Bibi Khala girls high school. In Kabul and most other parts of the county, the Taliban has forbidden girls older than 12 years old from attending. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: Girls above 6th grade are attending classes at Bibi Khala girls high school. In Kabul and most other parts of the county, the Taliban has forbidden girls older than 12 years old from attending. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: Perveen Tokhi, the schoolÕs principal, stands inside a class. Girls above 6th grade are attending classes at Bibi Khala girls high school. In Kabul and most other parts of the county, the Taliban has forbidden girls older than 12 years old from attending. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: Girls above 6th grade are attending classes at Bibi Khala girls high school. In Kabul and most other parts of the county, the Taliban has forbidden girls older than 12 years old from attending. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: Truck drivers wait to enter the city of Kandahar in the evening. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: Truck drivers pray in a resting area outside the city of Kandahar in the evening. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: A truck stop outside the city of Kandahar. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: A grocery stall along highway 1 in the outskirts of the city of Kandahar. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
ZABUL, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: By nightfall we enter Kandahar. The street lights are not working and those homes and shops with lights are fixed up with solar panels. The city, AfghanistanÕs second largest, receives only two hours of electricity per day. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: At a former U.S. military combat outpost known as Shorendam, 16 Caterpillar generators, each the size of a car garage, sit un-operational. The American government spent $300 million to bring electricity to Kandahar, and at one point factories around the base were receiving power. But as the U.S. military shrank its presence and its funding, the cash-strapped Afghan government was unable to afford spare parts or fuel for the generators. The plant hasnÕt worked in a decade. Mechanics trained for a year by American engineers now serve as security guards. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: At a former U.S. military combat outpost known as Shorendam, 16 Caterpillar generators, each the size of a car garage, sit un-operational. The American government spent $300 million to bring electricity to Kandahar, and at one point factories around the base were receiving power. But as the U.S. military shrank its presence and its funding, the cash-strapped Afghan government was unable to afford spare parts or fuel for the generators. The plant hasnÕt worked in a decade. Mechanics trained for a year by American engineers now serve as security guards. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: At KandaharÕs Mirwais Hospital, the pediatrics ward is filled with skeletal babies suffering from acute malnutrition. As many as five children are in each bed. Others are sprawled on the floor. The waiting list to enter the ward stretches onto the lawn outside. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: At KandaharÕs Mirwais Hospital, the pediatrics ward is filled with skeletal babies suffering from acute malnutrition. As many as five children are in each bed. Others are sprawled on the floor. The waiting list to enter the ward stretches onto the lawn outside. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 19: At KandaharÕs Mirwais Hospital, the pediatrics ward is filled with skeletal babies suffering from acute malnutrition. As many as five children are in each bed. Others are sprawled on the floor. The waiting list to enter the ward stretches onto the lawn outside. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN - OCTOBER 20: Taliban fighters warm themselves in front of a small bonfire at a checkpoint outside the city of Kandahar. They sit behind blast walls to prevent the chill wind from blowing into their bodies. (Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli/ The Washington Post)