A ravaged Dutch armoured vehicle, a broken DAF truck, bomb craters several metres deep and many bullet shells. Such is the destruction caused by a recent attack on Dutch soldiers on the most important road in the Afghan province Uruzgan. Camp Holland and the civilians in the province are highly dependent on it as a supply route.

 
by Bette Dam

 
Last weekend things turned ugly on this road, Uruzgan's main artery. Soldiers hit two roadside bombs, after which they were ambushed by gunfire. Eight Dutch soldiers were injured.

 
Expensive supplies
The Afghans who travelled through here three days after the attack were shocked when they arrived at the scene. The road between Tarin Kowt and Kandahar had been closed off for days. But beside the road still stands the wreckage of the Dutch armoured vehicle, a Bushmaster, worth some 1 million euros.

 
Nearby stands a DAF truck, also irreparably damaged, and the debris of several Afghan police cars. The traffic is directed around the large holes in the road.

 
Well-coordinated
One of the eyewitnesses is Najibullah of Tarin Kowt. He works for an aid organisation and was on his way to Kabul for work. He says Americans had come to the spot to defuse the unexploded roadside bombs.

"When we got there we stopped. Twenty-two roadside bombs were being excavated while I stood there. This must have been a well-coordinated attack. Something often happens on this road. We don't even ask who was responsible for the attacks anymore. The bombs were as large as jerrycans. The craters were sometimes six metres across and two metres deep."

 
Najibullah says the government hasn't had control over this piece of road - in the Shah Wali Kowt district, not far from Kandahar - for a long time. Afghan convoys get into serious trouble here as well.

 
Life and death
"For the citizens of Uruzgan this road is a matter of life and death", says Dawod, who investigated the state of the road for the Afghan government. Uruzgan itself is heavily reliant on imported goods. When the road is closed, prices skyrocket.

 
The Dutch Ministry of Defence says Dutch and Australian troops have so far had few encounters with ambushes or roadside bombs. "These military convoys drive fast, with lots of security. When things go wrong they can get out of there fast." Dawod explains.

Sack of potatoes
But for the residents of Tarin Kowt there is no alternative to the road. Medicine, flour, fuel, cement, and firewood - none of it arrives when things fall apart.

Only on the so-called convoy days is the road between Kandahar and Tarin Kowt openly accessible. Once a week some 180 to 200 trucks make their way to Uruzgan along this unpaved road. But the travellers are scared. They erase foreign names from their phones and documents for Western aid organisations and the Afghan government are hidden at the bottom of a sack of potatoes.

Toll
The enemy prefers to kidnap government employees and people who have ties to the West, Najibullah knows. Safety is now in the hands of the absolute ruler Mathiullah Khan. He demands 1500 US dollars per truck in exchange for a safe journey.

Mr Najibullah encounters another roadside bomb upon his arrival in Kandahar. The explosive detonates right outside the house in which he is staying. His advice for the Dutch?

"Focus on the roadside bombs. I'm not a soldier, but the roadside bombs are a big problem."