Kabul

Kabul – End of Journey?

Mama, wearing my academic dress. She did not finish her primary education, as the school was forced to close by the Suharto regime. But her dream is to learn, learn a lot, and be a real university student The last few weeks were very difficult time for me. Once my dad called from Indonesia, “Your mom is going to have an operation. Please pray for her.” It’s very unlikely that my mom gets sick, as my mom is a very active woman, doing physical exercise almost on daily basis. In late few years I have never heard she fell into serious sickness, even for once.The news was not too good. It turned out to be tumor, cells which grow abnormally. It sounds not so serious, my mom just complained of pain in her abdominal. Operation was conducted. It’s not a simple tumor. Doctor said it was malignant tumor, euphemism of saying ‘your mom got cancer’. My mom ovary was lifted. The next diagnosis saying that the cancer has spread to her intestine, and they claimed my mom got a Stage-3C [read more]

May 28, 2009 // 30 Comments

Jakarta Post Weekender (2009): Face of Kabul

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/29/faces-kabul.html THE WEEKENDER JAKARTA POST: Face of Kabul The Jakarta Post – WEEKENDER | Thu, 01/29/2009 8:00 PM | City Scene Agustinus Wibowo is a 27-year-old backpacker, photographer and writer whose passion for traveling the world has carried him across continents and borders. Recent explorations led to Kabul, Afghanistan, a city that was once the proud son of Persia. Agus’ essays on Central Asian countries are published regularly on kompas.com and will soon be serialized in print by Kompas Publisher. Here he gives us a glimpse of the war-torn country after decades of civil war and living in fear under the Taliban regime. Mean Streets According to UNICEF, between 50,000 and 60,000 children live on the streets of Kabul. The number continues to rise every year, even though dozens of local and international organizations have committed themselves to eradicating poverty in Afghanistan’s war-torn regions. These children will do [read more]

January 29, 2009 // 2 Comments

Kabul – Welcome to Ariana Flight

The boarding room of Kabul International Airport. Everybody is ready to fly … The first encounter with Ariana – the Afghan national carrier – is not always thrilling. It might be a unique experience from the Afghan land. In last several months I have been working as a consultant for UN. This, more or less, has changed my preference in traveling. Probably I got spoiled already with those amenities, facilities, and luxuries. Today, the first day of me turning back to be a backpacker again, I feel a sudden shock. Usually I prefer to take overland trip, but this time, on my way going to Iran for a short holiday to change the routine in Kabul, I chose to fly Ariana. The Kabul – Herat’s 1000 kilometer distance can be reached through three different routes. The northern route, through Mazar-e-Sharif, takes at least four days, killing unpaved road full of dust of the desert Dasht-e-Laila at the end of its leg. I have experienced this in 2006 and am not so keen to try again. The [read more]

June 9, 2008 // 3 Comments

Kabul – Assassination Attempt

He has managed to escape several assassination attempts. Who knows what happens next. Since the beginning of 2008, there had not been any big incidence in Kabul yet, until today, when the government and people of Afghanistan was proudly celebrating the victory of the Holy War, to commemorate the withdrawal of Russian troops. I did not go to the scene myself, as the program is restricted to accredited journalits (I am now a freelancer), but some colleagues from Pajhwok went there for reportage since early morning. Nobody expected that the yearly military parade turned to be assassination attempt to President Karzai, and the attack turned bloody. Some TV cameramen and photographers lost their cameras amid the chaos. Here is the updated news: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atvXzZBpxTPI&refer=home ——————– Afghanistan’s President Karzai Is Safe After Attack (Update1) By Jay Shankar April 27 (Bloomberg) – Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and [read more]

April 27, 2008 // 1 Comment

Kabul – Women Carpenters from Afghanistan

Woman carpenters from Dasht Barchi. Most if not all of them are Hazaras. Most people believe that carpentry is a man’s trade, but for the 60 carpentresses of Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi district, it simply isn’t true. “Women are able to do all kinds of work that men do,” they proclaim proudly. Hidden among mud houses which sit idly off of the main road, the center for carpentry is a local shura (council) where women learn about basic carpentry and build various items from cupboards, tables, computer desks, chairs to sandalis (heaters). A middle-aged woman is too happy to take me to the production center, where everything seems to happen all at once, located inside a small hut. “See, we are now able to handle heavy machinery,” she points out to several woodworking equipments that are modern-looking, where two or three women work in tandem to produce wood chops or create nail punctures and screw holes. Nails, chisels, hammers, sawing machines, screwdrivers are as familiar to [read more]

April 3, 2008 // 3 Comments

Taliban Attack on Luxury Hotel in Afghan Capital Kills Eight

The luxurious, five star Serena Hotel. With such heavy tiered security system, who expects this hotel can be attacked? http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akrH72vAed8I&refer=home Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) – Taliban insurgents killed as many as eight people in a suicide bomb attack on a luxury hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store was hosting a meeting. A Norwegian journalist accompanying the foreign minister and a U.S. citizen were among those killed in yesterday’s bomb- and-gunfire assault at the Serena Hotel. Store was uninjured, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. The assault is a “serious crime against humanity,’’ Ban told reporters in New York. Store was the target of the attack, he said, without elaborating. Suicide bombings in Afghanistan have risen sevenfold over the past two years and Taliban fighters are increasingly carrying out attacks in the capital. The assault may signal a [read more]

January 14, 2008 // 0 Comments

Kabul – A Midnight Jog

Kabul taxi, can be dangerous day or night People tend to have more things to say when they are angry or disappointed. And today I do the same. I regret I didn’t tell you earlier how I was impressed by hospitality of Kabul taxi drivers, who usually refuse to receive money from a foreign guest (only lip service mostly, but anyway it makes me happy), but now I have to tell a scary experience with a Kabul driver. I was invited by a friend to a dinner in Wazir Akbar Khan area, the rich part of Kabul where many embassies, foreign organizations, and expatriate housings are located. I usually don’t stay until late night, but yesterday we talked until completely forgetting about the time. At the end, an AFP French reporter friend of mine realized that it was already 10:30, and we had to leave. She offered me to walk together to the main road, from where I can find taxi to go home and she went back to her house on foot. We walked together to the direction of the main road. Usually, at this [read more]

January 9, 2008 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Christmas in Kabul

Christmas trees in Kabul streets, who expected? In devout, conservative Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Christmas is just like another day. It’s an ordinary day when people go to office, children go to school, and nobody is aware of what Christmas is. But since last some few years, the Christmas trees start to decorate the Kabul again. It is in the Flower Street, across the rows of foreigner-oriented souvenir shops of Chicken Street, where most flower shops in Kabul are located. Christmas trees, considered as variation of flowers, along with Christmas accessories like stars, Santa Claus, colorful ribbons, et cetera, are offered in the roadside of the narrow alley. It is indeed a bizarre combination between the artificial Christmas trees, mostly imported and costs around US$25, with women clad in blue burqas passing by. Under Taliban, said Muhammad, a shop owner, selling Christmas trees was totally prohibited. But he claimed that the Christmas trees were already available in Flower [read more]

December 25, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Rocked by Rockets

Rockets rocking the capital An early morning in Kabul was rocked when sound of blasts reverberated throughout the capital. 8:20 A.M. I heard a blast, sounds very near. Not as loud as a bomb blast, and even initially I thought it was a car incident. The second blast came afterwards. It was not at all car incident, but rocket attacks toward the Kabul police headquarters about a block away from where I am working. A reporter and I immediately ran to the site. A big fire was seen on the emptied road. The police tried hard to seal the area from onlookers and prevented the journalists, photographers, and cameramen to get closer. “The attacker is still here,” said a police, “he is running away and we are looking for him. It’s very dangerous.” Police is quick in cleaning up the debris The road is messy. This area was full of street hawkers and in the morning it was very busy of people shopping. I saw many shoes and sandals, offered at roadside, left away by the scared owners. The [read more]

December 15, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Rocket Rains

Winter is usually quiet months of bomb attacks. But it seems the formula does not work for this year. This week is the worst of this year in term of security in the capital. In recent days there had been several fatal bomb blasts all over the capital. It had been part of the daily life here. On November 27, when I was just walking on the street from the Afghan bodybuilding about 7:30 a.m, suddenly I heard a big blast. I am already used to this kind of blast or that kind of rocket rocks; I usually had no any more surprised reaction to this kind of happening. But I usually stay in my room when all of these things happened – in a safe place. Now, I am on road and the blast was heard much louder and shocking. I ran for some steps, but became completely normal again not more than a minute after. The blast happened somewhere near the Pakistan embassy, about 4 kilometer from the place I initially heard the blast. The target was a military vehicle in heavily secured area of Wazir Akbar [read more]

December 6, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Eid Mobarak

Afghan guards offer prayers in the Presidential Palace People were waiting with anxiety yesterday: whether they had finished their Ramadan fasting or they had to keep fasting one another day. Not until 10 p.m. Kabul time the decision was announced: Eid to be on Friday. President Hamid Karzai offers his Eid prayers in the mosque inside presidential palace compound. These years, as the security situation in Kabul is worsened, it is not wise if the President prays in public place. Two years ago the President still had his Eid prayers in Pul-i Khisthi mosque together with his people. But now any ceremony attended by the President will mean the arrival of armed bodyguards, area sterilization with the security dogs (it was introduced by the Americans to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan), some helicopters patrolling around, and tightened security on all main roads. Letting the President to pray in public mosque under current situation is too much risky. This resource and energy wasting, [read more]

October 12, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – A Blast in Baharistan

Bomb blast in the middle of holy month An early morning in the middle of Ramadan, the Muslim’s holy month, Kabul once again saw one of deadliest terrorism attacks this year. A crowded bus loading soldiers of Afghan National Army (ANA) was ripped into two parts. All passengers on-board were feared dead. Civilians were among the victims. The holy month has not brought quiet peaceful moment in the country. It is 6:45 a.m. I was slapped from my lazy sleep by a big blast. After living in Kabul for a while, I am pretty much used to bomb blasts. “It must be another bomb blast,” I thought. But considering that the blast was very loud, it should be a big one. But what can I do? Nobody arrived in our news office and for sure it was not recommended for me to go alone. I tried to go back to my sleep. I just wished it was not a bomb, but an accident from the near Chinese construction site. But I could not sleep. Sirens of police cars or ambulance could be heard from my room. I know it was [read more]

September 29, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – A Lunch in Chinese Embassy

The grand complex of Chinese embassy. Not big enough? This is just one among dozen of buildings in the complex. It’s grand. It’s just like a Chinese garden from the Middle Kingdom being transported to the middle of dusty Kabul. Mr. Yang, Mr. Li, and Mr. Yu were waiting outside the grand embassy building with strong Chinese-style architecture. Mr. Yang is the ambassador, Mr. Li is the counselor, and Mr. Yu is the protocol staff. They have been waiting for about 30 minutes. We came very late, due to jammed Kabul traffic. And we, two women and two men, felt very much embarrassed. How suddenly an ordinary man like me being invited to have lunch with his Excellency Chinese Ambassador? In a diplomatic function held for the Indonesian National Day, the Chinese Ambassador and his very two staffs paid a visit. A friend of mine, a Chinese Indonesian working in UN, expressed her curiousness on Chinese culture. The hospitable Ambassador then invited her to come to the embassy to have lunch [read more]

September 24, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – A Peace Day and A Bomb

Children celebrate Peace Day. “Peace is for all!” they say. International Peace Day may be just an ordinary day to most countries in the world, but in Afghanistan it is treated very seriously. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) declared September 21 as Peace Day in Afghanistan since July this year. This date, the one day of peace in Afghanistan, is the day without violence, one day of peace to start a peace era in the war-torn country. A series of activities were conducted to promote the peace day campaign extensively since the previous week. Yesterday, more than one hundred street children were collected to fly kites together from top of a hill. This, with media collaboration, became headlines in newspapers and brought the peace message through the TVs and radio. A day before, the Kabul Municipality inaugurated a Peace Junction: a simple junction transformed to be a pleasant green park. UNAMA also conducted an exhibition of 18 photos of an Afghan female [read more]

September 21, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Massoud Day: An Unfinished Speech

“Massoud never left his country, and sacrificed his life for the fatherland” – President Hamid Karzai The supporters of Massoud remembering the 6th anniversary of the martyrdom Two day before the 9-11, a significant event happened in Afghanistan. On September 9, 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud, one of the greatest and charismatic Afghan’s commanders, was assassinated in a suicide blast by Al Qaeda agents posing as journalist and photographer. He died on September 14, 2001 after few days in comma. This was the first time Afghanistan saw suicide bombing, which in later years become more popular. This was also the beginning why cameras are treated with full suspects as sensitive and possibly dangerous item in Afghanistan. But the most significant of all was Afghan-nation-in-struggle its great leader. Massoud was regarded as the hero who defeated the Red Army and successfully slapped Islamism fanaticism exactly in the face. His unexpected assassination by two Arab religious extremists [read more]

September 9, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Bom Blast (Again)

What? A bomb blast? Come on, it’s just a bomb blast. Let’s continue with the party and plenty of food here. It was like a morning call. A big blast even rocked me from my sleep. I opened my eyes, thought a while, “it might be a bomb blast”, and continued sleeping. Later I just found out that it was a suicide bomb. The location is nearby the airport, about 4 km from my place. But as the sound was very loud, this should be a big bomb, a car bomb. The attacker targeted a NATO-led ISAF military airport, just next to the main military airport. But the target seemed to be very miraculous, as always, as the attacker only killed two Afghan soldiers and injured some others. Suicide attacks have been quite rampant in Kabul in last three months, since the big blast which killed 35 Afghan police cadets and other minor blasts targeted to ISAF soldiers. Calculation on casualties shows that most of the attacks kill civilians or locals rather than foreign ‘enemies’. As it [read more]

August 31, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – An Afghan Style Swimming Contest

Who swims the fastest? The first time I see such a bizarre swimming contest, where many of the participants escape from the swimming pool in the middle of the race. The previous swimming exhibition 3 days ago brought me back to the crowded swimming pool of Youth Club (Klab-e-Jawanan). As before, they also made early announcement time for reporters to come. The original schedule for the competition was to be held at 9 in the morning, but not until 3 p.m. the swimming contest was started. The program organizer, a man in his 30’s and a body completely wrapped by stack hairs, requested the half-naked young boys to sit nicely in the provided benches. He, just like his swimming students, also dressed minimally. First time I saw an event organizer dressing only in singlet and pants, not even a swim pack. “OK, boys. Go back to your seat, we will start our program!” said him with the microphone. After noticing me taking photos of him only in white pants and talking on MC desk, he [read more]

August 30, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Midnight Rocket Attack

The target was US Embassy “Blaaaaarrrrrrr!!!” I heard a blast, quite shocking, when chatting with a friend. This friend is an Afghan journalist based in Wazir Akbar Khan area, about 2 km from my place, and heard the same strange sound. “Did you hear the sound? What is that?” he messaged me on my chat messenger. “Maybe it is a rocket,” he answered his own question, and disappeared immediately. It was 11.00 p.m. I was thinking it was a bomb blast, but who will blast a bomb at the middle of the night, and if it was indeed a bomb why it could be heard so loud both from Wazir Akbar Khan and from my place, which are separated by 2 km of distance. My friend was probably right: it was a rocket. I talked with a Pakistani colleague, Mr. Mudasser, about the sound. He didn’t hear anything. But when I said it might be a rocket, he just showed a very normal expression, “Well, in this kind of country, this is not something extraordinary. People are get used.” The second day (today) [read more]

August 25, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Another Kidnap Attempt

The roads of Kabul look normal today. But with the Korean hostage crisis is still in the air, and also some other foreigner kidnappings, no foreigners are supposed to travel freely on the streets. After the German woman hostage case which already brought earthquake to international media, today there is another similar case, but much more quieter. I received an SMS from a friend: “There has been a shooting within the last 30 minutes in the Qala E Fatullah area in an attempt to kidnap a local businessman. The attempt was believed to have been unsuccessful. However all personnel should be extra vigilant.” 19:51:12 23/08/2007 A local businesswomen interviewed by the TIME said, security in Kabul was merely a joke. In fact, kidnapping is not only towards foreigners. The Christina Meier case went to the news because it was a foreign woman kidnapped. But for local nationals, it’s just a routine occurrence, and this never goes to the news. In recent days, Kabul probably is not anymore a [read more]

August 23, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – School Inauguration

The President himself innaugurates the school A school inauguration in Kabul is attended by the President Hamid Karzai. In the situation when suicide bombing is rampant in the capital, violent attacks are getting common on Kabul streets, and foreigners are kidnapped, there should be something special that the Afghan President decide to inaugurate construction of a high school building. The Ghazi High School was among the oldest, famous, and historical schools in Kabul in its time. The school was originally built in 1923, just 4 years after the independence of Afghanistan from the British control. The civil wars in Afghanistan destroyed the school. In 1994 the school turned to be ruins with empty hollows and walls scattered by bullet holes. The school, the alma mater of current Minister of Higher Education Dr. Dadfar, hibernated. Today, American strip and stars flies proudly next to Afghan flag over a tablet written: “Ghazi High School – The foundation stone of Ghazi High School [read more]

August 21, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – The Afghan Independence Day

The happy parade inside the stadium When an independence day is celebrated with fading pride as an independent country… If Indonesia is still in splendor of the 62nd anniversary of its independence day, Afghanistan is celebrating its 88th today. The British Treaty of Rawalpindi on August 8, 1919 admitted the self-determination of Afghanistan, of which foreign affairs formerly under British subject. Afghanistan had been arena of power struggle between nations since the beginning of its history, and at the end of the 19th century it became arena of the Great Game between Russian and British imperials. As both imperial powers were almost equally strong, Afghanistan was used as buffer to delimit Russian empire from the British India. Under British and Russian influence, the northern border with Russia (Amu-Darya River), the eastern border with British India (Durand Line) and the border with Persia were drawn. Afghanistan, under subject of Russian-British agreement, was given [read more]

August 19, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – One Year Older

Chinese Food in Kabul Happy Birthday to….. me Today is my birthday. Well… it’s not something special. I have birthday once in a year anyway. One year pass, and I get one year older. I am used not to make my birthday as a special day. I am used to spend birthday lonely, on road, on mountain, in the middle of nowhere, with absence of family and close friends. I am used to it, and I am prepared to it. I was conditioned to live alone. My family sent me to study in China when I was 19. I remembered my last birthday celebrated, when I was 18, was just few days before being enrolled to a university in Surabaya. High school friends came and congratulated me. It was simple, but there were at least 20 friends coming to my little house. That was the birthday party with the biggest numbers of guests. The most terrific in my history, I think. The yellow rice ‘tumpeng’ replaced my birthday cake, and laughter of newly graduated high school students filled the air. That night I remembered [read more]

August 8, 2007 // 1 Comment

Kabul – The Indonesian Family

The only place to taste genuine Indonesian food in Afghanistan ‘If you are abroad, remember, embassy is your home,’ said my elementary school teacher, explaining the function of embassy in a moral education class. This, at least in Afghanistan, is proven true. Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Shahr-e-Nao Kabul is indeed warm shelters for small Indonesian community in this Islamic Republic. There are not too many Indonesians in Afghanistan, and for sure less in Kabul. Not more than 30 Indonesians seen regularly in the embassy in the capital, and that already includes the embassy staff. People come and go. This small community always welcomes newcomers with smiles and prepares farewell party (sometimes almost rained by tears) for those who leave. In the last three months of my stay here, already two long-term Indonesians leave the country. For small family like this, the feeling of losing a member always hurts. The embassy people dominate this little community. Not before [read more]

July 30, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Warning: Travel Ban in Afghanistan

No foreigners are allowed to take this road to leave Kabul overland, due to the Korean hostage crisis Following the worsening of the 23 Korean hostages’ crisis, Afghanistan government has instituted new strict security measures in order to protect foreign citizens in the country. Foreigners, de facto, are banned to travel outside Kabul overland. Any foreigners wishing to travel by land must submit first an application to police two days in advance of the trip. To enforce the travel ban, new checkpoints had been instituted at all of Kabul’s main roads. The ban is given to an unlimited time, or will be announced later. I am sure the recent hostage crisis will cause various indirect effects. South Korean government has already included Afghanistan in travel-ban list, forbidding any citizens to get into the country without permission from the government and Afghanistan government was requested not to allow Korean citizens to enter the country. Lonely Planet independent travelers’ [read more]

July 26, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Women and Terror

The road of Ghazni, where the incident took place The most recent news brought from the southern part of the country, is the striking hijacking of a bus full of foreigners in Qarabagh district, southern part of Ghazni province, by the Taliban. 18 foreigners on board, all Korean nationals, are taken hostage by the hijackers on 19 July. Among the 18 hostages, 15 of them are females. Initially the people were reported as tourists traveling from Kandahar to go back to Kabul, but later confirmation from the news agency reveals that these Koreans are Christians working as volunteers for a Christian missionary group, Saemmul Community Church in Bundang south of Seoul. These people entered Afghanistan on July 13 and were supposed to return home right after they arrive in Kabul. But the incident on their way to Kabul not only delayed their return, but also put a big question mark on their live survival. This is the largest-scale abduction conducted by the Taliban after 2001. The spokesman of [read more]

July 21, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Mengungsi di KBRI

I feel safe under the red and white Suatu pengalaman tak terduga yang membuat saya terpaksa mengungsi di ‘tanah air’ di tengah gelapnya malam Kabul. Seperti biasa, mobil yang mengantar para pegawai kantor kami ke rumah masing-masing berangkat pukul 7. Matahari mulai merunduk di Afghanistan. Senja mulai menjelang di Kabul. Perjalanan pada malam hari mulai mencekam di mana jalan-jalan gelap pekat tak diterangi lampu seakan menelan semua mobil yang berlalu. Saya tidak pernah ikut mobil jemputan, karena saya tinggal di kantor. KBRI juga sudah mulai menelepon, memberitahukan agar datang untuk mengikuti pertandingan olah raga menjelang Agustusan. Saya bilang masih ada sedikit urusan di kantor dan datang agak malaman. Tiba-tiba, teman yang tadi pergi dengan mobil kantor datang kembali. Pukul 8. Wajahnya yang hitam kini nampak pucat pasi. “Kita diikuti pelaku bom bunuh diri!” serunya dengan tergagap. Bom bunuh diri atau penculikan, tak seorang pun bisa memastikan. Namun memang benar, [read more]

July 11, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – The Americans and the Indonesians

Crushed Kalashnikov The US embassy has a very special program today, to celebrate the destructions of more than one million small arms or light weapons worldwide. That is to show to a bunch of Afghan journalists from selected media of how an AK-47 arm is being destroyed by their Ambassador. So important that the program is, a limited number of the selected media have to come an hour earlier and being scrutinized thoroughly before being able to cover the speech of the Ambassador (which last only for 6 minutes, compact and short, no Q&A session that a female reporter complained the program to be very bland), people from disarmament organization, followed by a demonstration of the Ambassador destroying a Kalashnikov being turned to pieces by an unforgiving drill machine box. Kalashnikov, the Russian branded automatic rifles, had been invented more than sixty years ago (1943), and the AK-47 has the reputation as one of the most reliable rifles. There were already 100 million of [read more]

July 9, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – (Another) Explosion in Kabul

The victims of the blast Morning, 8:10 a.m., we just started our daily work. Suddenly we heard a big blast. It was obviously a bomb blast. The sound was very loud, and it should not be very far from where I was. My instinct as a photographer threw me away to the source of the blast. The explosion happened in front of the Police Headquarters, just about 500 m away from my office. It was a mess. I saw a big bus was completely destroyed; police and medical workers were evacuating victims; and other police rushed civilians (including journalists) not to get near. There was no fire. When we arrived (one reporter and two photographers), there were no other journalists there yet. Our office was the closest to the location. But not long after we arrived, police started to beat civilians with sticks to empty the location. This was a big blast. The bus belonged to local Police Academy and was carrying academy attendants. At least this terrorist attack claimed 35 casualties and injured others. [read more]

June 17, 2007 // 3 Comments

Kabul – A Short Walk at Kabul Underpass

Welcome to Kabul Underpass, or “subway” Today I want to take you to take a walk around the center of Kabul, just to see how the ordinary days pass through, and how the ordinary air fills the atmosphere. Let’s go down to ‘Kabul Subway’. I remembered this phrase when a man from Kandahar I met in 2003, in my first visit to Afghanistan, took me around the capital. It was no kind of underground metro station which I imagined. Kabul Subway, or underground passage to be exact, was the safest crossway for pedestrians from the wild traffic at the heart of the capital. A simple crossway it was not. The dark stairway and crowded underground passage brought me to a deep contemplation, about the live of a country named Afghanistan, a place that used to haunt my dreams, a place that remain in people’s fantasy, a place that turned to be rubbles after endless wars since the history began. It’s very crowded during peak hours, which last for most time of the [read more]

June 12, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – An Expatriate Restaurant Is Closed

Notice of the closure of L’Atmosphere, due to tax problem L’Atmosphere, a French restaurant hidden in a small dusty alley in Kabul, is forced to close by the government, due to a tax failure. I have a personal experience with this restaurant. In 2006, the first day of my arrival in Afghanistan, an Indonesian friend of mine took me to the restaurant to watch the opening match of the World Cup soccer championship. I was not interested to watch World Cup, but as he said that it was a public place with giant screen – which he supposed to make watching football much more interesting, I was thinking of a giant screen in the middle of an open field where a crowd of turbaned Afghan men cheered and supporting their favorite teams. I accepted the invitation. Located in unsigned property in a nondescript dusty alley of Kabul, here is one of the renowned expat heavens in Afghanistan This was the perfect hangout place for the expat. After the closure, many of the Kabul foreigners [read more]

June 6, 2007 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Those who Survive on Afghan Streets

Ni’mat, the shoe polisher The decades of wars in Afghanistan have left scars on Afghan community. Victims of wars are still visible on busy Kabul streets. War widows and orphaned children beg for donations from the crowds, and poor children also have to work instead of getting access to proper education. The economy disparity causes many people are still not adsorbed into proper occupation. If a father does not make enough money to support his big family, which is very common in Afghanistan, then young children have to start to earn for living. Ni’mat is an 11 year old boy. His name in Arabic means mercy, but his life is not quite a mercy. At this early age, he has to work on streets as shoe polisher. He started this work a year ago, and now he has more responsibilities. His mother does not work, as most women in Afghanistan. His father used to be street worker, hanging around on the street to offer his muscle power. But then, last month, his father got accident because [read more]

May 22, 2007 // 6 Comments

Kabul – Life from the Stinky Mountains

Searching for possible “treasures” in the garbage dump of northern Kabul North of Kabul, on the top of barren hills, is located the garbage dump of all waste of the capital. The complete waste, after passes the selection of waste pickers from all around the capital, ends its journey here. Waste pickers, those who try to find treasures from dumps of waste, can be recognized easily. They are people in dirty clothes, with a sack on their backs, and dwindle around Kabul streets or garbage dumps searching for something. Most of the waste pickers in Kabul are children, besides adult men and women. Garbage from the streets is then dumped here, on a hill north of Kabul, as the final dumping point of all garbage in the whole capital. Garbage which makes its way here can be assumed as the most unusable kind of garbage, or we can say the garbage of all garbage. But still, this kind of place may provide life for some people. Lunch, everybody? Waris, 12 year old boy, spends his full [read more]

May 8, 2007 // 4 Comments

Kabul – Some Broken Eggs from Kabul to Share

“My eggs are broken… my parents will punish me … keen to help?” Broken Eggs A boy is crying as his eggs are broken on a pedestrian street in Kabul. I was among sympathetic passers-by who donated some coins to this poor boy. Later I found out this is a common scam in the capital, as you may find this trick: a boy crying in Kabul’s many busy streetsnext to broken eggs to gather some symphathy from unsespecting people. Telur-telur yang Pecah Seorang bocah kecil yang menangisi telur-telurnya yang pecah di sebuah trotoar di Kabul. Entah apa yang dipikirkannya. Apakah sang ayah akan menghajarnya karena ia telah menyia-nyiakan uang belanjaan hari itu. Apakah sang ibu akan mencacimakinya karena kecerobohannya. Yang jelas, saya bersimpati dan menyumbangkan beberapa keping uang receh yang disambut dengan tangan yang terjulur dari balik wajah yang tersembunyi itu. Kemudian baru saya mengetahui, bahwa ini adalah salah satu teknik mengemis yang mutahir di ibu kota [read more]

April 26, 2007 // 3 Comments

Kabul – Brother Ambassador

The Indonesian Embassy in Kabul Today there is opening of a photo exhibition in the newly renovated Kabul Museum, just across the Darulaman Palace. The exhibition shows some old photos of Afghanistan, taken in the 1970s, about the glorious era of the covered bazaar of Tashkurgan. The covered bazaar now is gone. And European historical site preservation mission is trying hard to return the legendary bazaar back to its golden time. As photographers we were invited to attend the opening ceremony. There were long, long speeches from authorities and historians about the importance of preserving historical sites, the mission of photo exhibition, and about the destroyed bazaar of Tashkurgan. Many of the invited guests are foreigners. I feel a strange feeling surrounded by high class Afghan expats accompanied by their super muscular bodyguards. I am just a little photographer assigned by a local office here. During the speech I noticed a man standing next to me. He also looked at me. I was [read more]

April 25, 2007 // 1 Comment

Kabul – Demonstration against Tolo TV

“Go down with Tolo!!!” scream the protesters There is a demonstration in front of the headquarters of the biggest Afghan private TV station, Tolo TV in Kabul, following urge of the Afghan Attorney General on closure of the TV station. According to Abdul Jabar Sabet the Attorney General, the TV Station had made false report on his comment. He claimed that he was saying that the judicial system was not good, but then reported by the TV he was saying it is the country’s system which is not good. Sabet is very unhappy by this report, as this left impression that he was speaking against the government, not the judicial system. The protesters—the supporters of Sabet—also brought the name of religion and Prophet in their action. The scale of the protest is not really huge—some media reports there are 200 protesters, but I just saw only some dozens. Anyway, the protesters claim there would be 500 people joining their action, a number supposed to be alarming for [read more]

April 19, 2007 // 1 Comment

Khorog – The Journey to GBAO

One of the two brothers, fellow passengers on the journey to Khorog, GBAO, Tajikistan GBAO, the Gorno Badakhshanskaya Avtonomnaya Oblast (Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast) is my main reason to come to Tajikistan. It is dominated by the minority Ismaili Badakhshani Tajiks and Sunni Kyrgyz. It has majestic mountain architectures. But the main reason I want to go to this restricted area was its history. The province was supporting rebel side in the civil war of Tajikistan. The province suffered a lot from the blockade of the central government. Going to Tajikistan is already something strange for my Indonesian friends in Kabul. “Why going to Tajikistan? It is a poor country.” Going to GBAO is another thing to be objected by my Tajik friends in Dushanbe. “Why going to GBAO? It is so far and poor…” Even the Tajik diplomat in Kabul raised his eyebrows when my embassy staff insisted to get a Tajik visa together with GBAO permit. “Is he really a tourist???” For the ‘GBAO’ [read more]

October 18, 2006 // 0 Comments

Kabul – Life of Afghan Police

Two Afghan police (or soldiers) guarding the ex-palace in Kabul My experience yesterday, being beaten by police, is actually nothing new in life in Afghanistan, and especially for journalists. Rights of journalists, as any other civilians, are not yet observed by the police, the guardian of the people, in Afghanistan. Najeebullah, a Pajhwok journalist, was kicked on his chest by a police when he made the coverage about the bomb happening last Saturday. Violence like this is not news anymore. “Why dont you write about the police atittude,” I asked him. They have written so many times, but the police never care, nor change their behaviour. “They are uneducated. They have low salary,” said Wais, telling me the reason for the bad behavior of Afghan police and soldiers. Inspired by this, I would like to learn more about the life of Afghan police. I traveled to Darulaman Palace, at the western part of Kabul. This is a palace built by Amanullah King and now resembled [read more]

October 3, 2006 // 3 Comments

Kabul, My Black Day

The police who slapped me, checked my camera, and slapped me again I cannot reckon any day worse than today. In the morning, there was another bomb blast in Kabul, in Mikroyan area. The suicide bomber was a young man in Western dress, who planted the bombs on his body, and blasted himself. There were 6 casualties. Two days before there was another bomb blast in front of the ministry of interior, which killed 16 people and wounded 50 others. Now is the Muslim’s holy month of Ramazan. But why are there bombings now? The extremists urge their followers to do the suicide bombings; for them it is jihad, as being a martyr in the holy month guarantees their place in heaven. Secondly, the winter is coming soon, and in winter terrorist actions would be more difficult to conduct. The extremists were in a hurry to complete their mission. The situation in Afghanistan is getting worse. Security is tightening up. But I still cannot accept the justification of what happened to me today. 4:30 [read more]

October 2, 2006 // 9 Comments

Kabul: Tajik Visa SCAM

The US$ 250 Tajik visa The ex-Soviet countries are notorious for difficult paperwork and expensive bureaucracy. The Central Asian republics are just example of this draconian governments. From my previous experience in Central Asia, the visa fee for Uzbekistan was 75$, Kyrgyzstan 55$, and 5 day transit visa for Kazakhstan was 35$. For Indonesian passport holders, the matter was complicated with ‘Letter of Invitation’. This is a procedure where someone should be our sponsor during our stay in the countries. The Letter of Invitation (LOI), or in Russian: priglashenie, or in embassies’ term: calling visa, then should be sent by the sponsoring organization to be then authorized by the ministries of foreign affairs of the appropriate countries. The process can take weeks. Fast service from Internet cost me 30$ per LOI. I am aware of these complexities of obtaining Central Asian visas. I have contacted my embassy in Tashkent who told me that they could arrange the [read more]

October 1, 2006 // 2 Comments

Kabul – Bom Blast !!!

One of the suspected terrorists, wearing military uniform, is caught by the police. This incident happened one day after the one in front of the Ministry of Interior A suicide roadside bomb just happened today in Kabul, in front of Ministry of Interior, on 8 a.m., rush hour when the people go the offices. The ministry is only about 50 m from my office, Pajhwok Afghan News. I didnt witness the incident by myself, as I was 15 minutes late. When I came to the office on foot, I was checked thoroughly 3 times by the policemen and then they took me to my office to assure me not going to the incident spot. When I arrived at the office, almost nobody at the newsroom. They couldnt come as the road was blocked. There was only 1 reporter from Pajhwok there and the officials refused anymore people to go for coverage (including photographer). According to what I have heard from the witnesses, the bomber planted the bomb on the body, waiting on the roadside in front of the ministry’s gate. [read more]

September 30, 2006 // 2 Comments

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