1993: Afghanistan – Various adventures – part 1
In 1993 I had a 3 month gap between my SHO jobs approaching. I had not planned anything and a copy of International Health Exchange arrived at home. This was a job advert magazine for health professionals of all sorts to work in developing countries. The jobs were listed alphabetically by country. So ‘A’ for Afghanistan appeared first – ‘Doctor required for Halo Trust’ – a de-mining organisation. I was immediately interested and did not look further before ringing the listed number to express my interest. After a short conversation it was agreed I would send my CV and attend for an ‘interview’ in London at an in-house restaurant of the apartment building where Colin and Susan Mitchell, co-founders with Guy Willoughby lived. After a gin and tonic in their apartment and a nice meal Colin Mitchell said I “would do” and asked when I could be ready to leave – we agreed on two weeks later!! This recruitment and preparation process contrasts starkly with the more rigorous (appropriately) process to work for NGOs nowadays!
The HALO Trust was founded in 1988 in response to the global humanitarian catastrophe caused by landmines , particularly at that time in Afghanistan. Thousands of civilians were being killed or wounded by landmines and their presence was preventing the return of thousands of refugees. On 15 May 1988 the Soviet Forces started their withdrawal from Afghanistan and the same week HALO got set up in Kabul. More than 25 years later HALO’s Afghan programme employs thousands of Afghans and has expanded the scope of its work to include unexploded ordinance and weapons disposal. In 1997 the International Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty was signed. From small beginnings HALO now employs thousands of people from the communities in conflict and post conflict countries around the world clearing hundreds of thousands of landmines and other ordinance. I naively did not do any research about the situation in Afghanistan, which in some ways might have been a good strategy – blissful ignorance!? But essentially it was in the middle of a civil war!
After the Soviet Union withdrew completely from Afghanistan in February 1989, fighting between the communist backed government and mujahideen continued. The government survived, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was overthrown in April 1992. The forces of Abdul Rashid Dostum surrendered to Ahmed Shah Massoud and Kabul was left without defenses and soon fell to Massoud. Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the Peshawar-based mujahideen groups established an interim Jamiat-e Islami. Then the Islamabad Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Mujahideen groups continued to clash and in January 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further into chaos, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masud, both ethnic Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.
So two weeks after my ‘interview’ I was on the plane to Afghanistan – a whirl wind! The flight took me from London to Delhi, India with a short transfer to a flight to Kabul, Afghanistan. I remember sitting in the transit area in Delhi with eight others – all men who looked like they were Afghan. When we were called to board, all nine of us climbed the steps onto the plane and were greeted at the doorway by the pilot who said that there were no other crew, would be no refreshments and we could sit anywhere we liked – a slightly unusual experience and not the last to be had on this adventure.
After an uneventful flight we approached Kabul airport. Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan is to the east of the country located high in narrow valley in the Hindu Kush at a height of 1,790ms, making it one of the highest capitals in the world, with a beautiful snow capped mountain backdrop. The plane came in to land and looking out of the window as we taxied down the runway I saw plane wrecks lying off the runway, some with large holes in the fuselage from rockets. My blissful ignorance was about to be challenged! We descended the steps and started to walk towards the airport terminal, some distance away – terminal might be an exaggeration! I looked back at the plane, the stairs already removed, door shut and it was taxiing ready to take off again. I was greeted by Tim Porter, one of the ex-army demining managers and as we left the airport, after no formal airport security, the plane already airborne and on its way back to Delhi – probably on the runway for 10-15 minutes maximum! I guess the plane insurance was not valid for longer stops – I would see why that evening!!
The drive to the Halo staff house was a bit of a blur, dusty streets with large areas just piles of rubble, whole destroyed streets, street stalls set up next to or on the rubble, destruction and life everywhere – neatly piled bunches of radishes, and tables with flat bread – women in Burkas and women in more western dress – so different to my return a couple of years later when the country was largely Taliban controlled and all women wore the Burka.
The house was comfortable, and even had a pool in the garden and roof top terrace. Kabul had been a thriving and cosmopolitan city in the 1960s/70s until the Russian war and occupation from December 1979 until February 1989. After some dinner we headed up to the roof terrace with cups of tea, now after dark. I was then given a surreal experience of watching rockets (not fire works!) being fired from one hillside and travelling over our heads to explode on another hillside and then rockets flying in the opposite direction – two opposing Mujahideen forces exchanging rocket fire – and front row seats to watch!! As interesting first day in Afghanistan.
The second day was also ‘interesting’! At breakfast one of the HALO Trust’s ex-army guys asked if I wanted to help de-activate an unexploded 1000 lb bomb that had been reported . I thought why not and accompanied this guy whose name I have forgotten to a village on the outskirts of Kabul where we were shown the bomb, a large grey blue cylinder between some houses! The HALO guy wandered up to it in a fairly relaxed fashion, rolled it slightly to find the detonator which he calmly unscrewed and removed! He then got some chain from the Landrover and secured it around the bomb and attached the other end to the back of the Landrover and told me to jump in!
He then drove out of the village and onto the nearby hill side with the bomb dragging and bouncing behind us. Disconcerting and bizarre beyond words – he said it was perfectly safe – but I am pretty sure it was not recommended practice? As we drove across the hill side we came across a deep narrow ravine where he pulled up along, and between us we rolled the bomb over the edge to drop the 8-10 feet to the bottom with a thud!! He jumped down on top of it with an explosive charge which he attached to the bomb as I watched from above. He then took a lighter from his pocket and lit the fuse! Climbing back up out of the ravine he said we had better get going. We drove down the hill, about 2-300ms and stopping he said that we were far enough away!
Literally a few seconds later there was a huge explosion, thudding vibration and billowing plumb of dust along with hundreds of stones and rocks flying into the air, some of which came raining down onto the the roof and bonnet of the Landrover – I was glad I had stayed inside! He commented that perhaps he had not gone far enough to be clear! I never got to know this HALO ex-army guy as he stayed in Kabul when I went North. But I got the distinct impression he was not very stable and possibly had a bit of a death wish. I heard that he had been a mercenary for some time in Africa after leaving the British army! So an interesting 2nd day in Afghanistan!
My time in Afghanistan was spit between 2 bases, initially in Jabel-os-Saraj on the road north from Kabul in the foot hills of the southern slopes of Hindu Kush and secondly Pol-e Khomri the capital of Baglan province on the planes north of the Hindu Kush (about 100km south of Kunduz and 200km southeast fo Mazar-i-Sharif).
In Jabel-os-Saraj, we were housed in a compound on the side of the road, walled with a gate and single huts in the grounds, Tim Porter, ex marine and a true action man led the show and gave a briefing to the Afghan de-mining team each morning before we headed out in the trucks to the area we were de-mining. There was a clear system with teams of ten de-miners who worked in pairs – one with a metal detector, the other with a probe to explore anything identified by the metal detector. Each pair worked along 1m wide paths with ropes demarcating the edges of the path cleared. Each pair would work sufficiently far apart to avoid additional casualties if one pair inadvertently blew up a land mine. And each team of 10 had a medic – a highly experienced 1st aider – who had experience in the Afghan/Russian war. It took careful planning and mapping to ensure a designated area was completely checked before declaring it safe.
The terrain that the team were working in was incredibly tough – hillsides with loose stones, having to work uphill to avoid rocks rolling down on uncleared areas and detonating mines, uneven land with ravines covered with high grasses, impossible to see clearly – really challenging! We had a small ambulance available for each site just in case. I was able to provide an impromptu temporary mobile clinic from the back to nearby villagers.
The midday temperatures were hot but not as bad as they would get at the next location. We tended to wake, start work early and finish returning to the compound for a late lunch. I was able to explore the small flourishing town often as a focus of curiosity for the locals and go for walks in the cooler late afternoon, but only on well worn paths/tracks and ensuring I did not step off them for anyone or anything to avoid possibly stepping on a landmine!!
On one of these walks, I was traveling along one side of the valley up on the hillside, away from the town, with rocks and a few bushes in the warm evening light , quiet and tranquil. Suddenly I heard a shot and immediately ducked, sitting down low – looking around to see where it had come from, feeling really exposed. Looking across the valley I saw a man on the other hillside opposite behind a rock with a rifle pointing along the hillside. I looked further up and there was another man behind a rock facing back, also with a gun.
There then followed the most surreal and sad spectacle. More shots rang out as the two men exchanged fired at each other, oblivious of me as an audience! The second man retreated, running back and behind another rock as the first man fired again and moved forward. In one way it was like watching a cowboy movie but it was for real! More shots were exchanged as the dual continued!! The 2nd guy eventually retreated round a corner and out of sight, the first guy followed and then silence returned, ominous silence indicating one or other had been shot and most probably killed! After a pause I retreated back along my path and back to the compound in a state of shock and silence – having been witness to a potential murder!! The culture of guns as a means to sort out feuds and grievances is pervasive and engrained in Afghanistan.
Another incident occurred involving shooting! This time Tim Porter was driving north up the valley. I was in the back seat and we were shot at from a roadside ‘check point’ – more like an extortion point! I suddenly heard the whizz, thump sound of 2-3 bullets passing close over the landrover. Tim stopped and a couple of Afghans came over to us, AK47s pointing in our direction and asked for cigarettes. Instead of giving them cigarettes, Tim launched a furious tirade in Farsi, giving the guys a rollocking! I was sitting thinking, just give them some cigarettes. However this strategy worked and the guys back off rather sheepishly!! Phew!!
Otherwise life in Jabel-os-Saraj was fairly relaxed and steady, and comfortable. We had breakfast and evening meals together as the ex-pat HALO staff – there was a limited menu – dinner consisting of a pile (huge) of rice with vegetable ghee – not very appetising. I had one dose of severe D & V over one night, spending the whole night walking back and forth from my hut to the toilet block up the hillside! On my return from one trip I saw a scorpion on the floor of my room, jumping onto my bed I started throwing whatever I could at it as it ran round the edge of the floor in a state of panic. I was not very accurate but eventually hit and killed it with my shoe.
It became time to switch to work in the second location, Pol-e-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province. However, before then we had the opportunity for a road trip of a lifetime. Two brand new long-wheel base turbo diesel Landrovers being delivered to Afghanistan had arrived – via an amazing train journey in a container from the Uk, that had been brought across the bridge from Tajikistan and apparently were awaiting for collection. So drivers were needed – Simon and I! I will share this road trip and further Afghan adventures in part 2.
