[R-G] Afghans want ‘foreigners' out of Kabul

[Anthony Fenton]

Afghans want ‘foreigners' out of Kabul
http://www.e-ariana.com/ariana/eariana.nsf/allDocs/89C1A6D163684BE28725754D005F1A46?OpenDocument
The National, UAE
01/29/2009
By Chris Sands

KABUL - Afghans living on the main motorway leading east out of Kabul  
have demanded that foreign troops be withdrawn from the area.

Residents on the Jalalabad Road say high-speed military convoys are  
becoming an increasing danger to the local population and their  
presence encourages suicide bombings.

“They cause lots of problems. If there are women, children or men in  
the street, they don't care. They just drive too fast,” said a 26-year- 
old who gave his name only as Babrak.

“We need the foreigners to leave the city. They should go right to the  
provinces or to the outside of Kabul.”

Jalalabad Road is one of the most important highways in Afghanistan.  
Heading east from the capital to the Pakistani border, it is a major  
supply route for Nato and American forces, as well as a vital  
transport link for civilian traffic.

Razor wire, concrete blast walls and high fences protect the military  
bases, government compounds and industrial estates that line the road  
as it begins to leave the Kabul city. Checkpoints stop cars at regular  
intervals and helicopters fly overhead.

It is the kind of road that can only be found in a war zone and the  
tension bubbling just below the surface is gradually becoming clear.

“The Russians did good work in Afghanistan but these people have done  
nothing except spend lots of money,” said Babrak, while armoured  
vehicles rushed by and soldiers held their guns at the ready.

He was speaking at the point where the unrest now developing briefly  
boiled over. According to witnesses, one morning in November a  
military convoy deliberately rammed a minibus off the motorway and  
into a butcher's shop. Shots were also reportedly fired and a 12-year- 
old boy was killed. Riots subsequently broke out.

The victim's brother, Zirgay, said the troops drove straight on after  
the crash, rather than offering any help.

“I want them to go to the outside of the city. They can still use this  
road, but they need to stop shooting people and causing accidents,” he  
said.

With so many military bases and convoys, the newly paved motorway has  
become a prime target for insurgents. During the last few years, there  
have been a number of suicide attacks here.

Residents say nervous foreign soldiers throw everything from stones to  
water bottles at civilian cars in an effort to keep them at a safe  
distance. Military vehicles also often have signs warning people to  
stay back and billboards carrying the same message are put up  
throughout the city. But with traffic often jammed bumper to bumper  
along the road, it can be difficult for cars to move out of the way  
quickly enough. And in an area littered with rundown stores, children  
playing and shepherds looking for land where their sheep can graze,  
the constant presence of the soldiers is regarded as a direct and  
indirect threat to the local population.

Ghulam Mohauddin, a stationery shop owner, said there had never been  
these problems during the Soviet era.

“Let me tell you the truth. There is not even a fraction of a reason  
for the foreigners to stay in Kabul. If somebody is going to do a  
suicide attack they will not come from my shop, they will come from  
outside the country. So the soldiers should go to the borders outside  
Kabul and make the security good there. We don't need them here,” he  
said.

Another danger is that the visible presence of such large numbers of  
troops risks becoming a lightening rod for people's wider grievances.  
Afghans across Kabul can now be heard saying their lives have not  
improved in the past seven years. Insecurity and high unemployment,  
they commonly say, are the main features of this latest occupation.

Sayed Khalilullah runs a small convenience store off the Jalalabad  
Road. It is his second job. He also works as a teacher at a primary  
school, where his wages do not add up to much more than the money he  
earns selling biscuits and toilet rolls.

“It's not up to me whether the foreigners should go, but they should  
change their method of driving and be very careful,” he said. “If the  
situation stays like this and the people remain jobless they will  
start jihad because there is no other way for them.”

Asked about the concerns of residents in the Jalalabad Road area, a  
spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf force insisted it demonstrated  
“respect and consideration for Afghan traffic and pedestrians”.

“We must maintain our professionalism at all times and always keep in  
mind the consequences of our actions,” he said.