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Uruzgan/Kandahar
Afghanistan

Afghanistan Uruzgan/Kandahar
June-July 2008

In June-July I made this documentary as an embedded photographer. Some of the photographs however are taken during an unembedded project in Kandahar. This documentary pursues to show the reconstruction of Afghanistan by the help of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, which consists of more than 1500 military heads in the province of Uruzgan (majority in Tarin Kowt).

The PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team), which consists not only of military trained people but also of trained civilians, has a task to reconstruct Afghanistan in many different ways. They are helping the locals to politically rebuild their country but also provides them with financial support. Workshops to build up their own company, lessons in construction of houses, bridges and waterholes are all organised by the PRT. The Hydro Electronic Power Plants are an example of the success of the innovative and autarchic methods. The main goal is talking to the locals, listening to their problems and offering positive conditions and support to create a better society. The responsibility lies within their own community in order to give them tools for the future to independently act from any military interventions. The PRT is there to show them a way around in the political, social and economic environments with a long-term goal (2010) to finally act completely independent on the International Security Assistance Force. The PRT not only visits the green zones in the desert of RC South to talk to the people but also provides a secure system in which they can rebuild their country which has been facing war for 30 years. People, afraid of Taliban, can talk to the ISAF which conducts patrols in the areas. The ISAf also leads patrols in order to search suspicious qualas. During our patrols in Worsley and Khyber we visited qualas which hid machine-guns under the ground and poppy buried underneath a bucket of corn. On the rooftop, where the search team was looking for liaisons with Taliban, we found cartridges and gun holes which explained the attack and counter-attack on a ISAF mission a couple of weeks ago. The problem is that the owners of this quala are either working voluntarily together with Taliban or are forced to do so. The most important factor for the community is that ISAF keeps on patrolling and supervising the suspicious inhabitants of these qualas. Many people are too petrified to talk to ISAF so they are invited to come to the PRT-house which is located at Tarin Kowt. For some people this is a safer way to explain their worries without the danger of being caught by Taliban.

Kandahar Air Field (KAF) is the base located south of Uruzgan where the ANA (Afghan National Army) is trained and where the head office of the Afghan General of RC South is located. While having a conversation with the General he shows a video in which he was being attacked by Taliban. His car was completely wrecked by the IED (Improvised Explosive Device) but he himself had no scratch.

The traces of the Russian invasion are still visible on the outer ring of the camp where the Afghan people and ANA live. Next to the Russian artillery-graveyard Afghan people live in the Russian buildings which were bombed by the Taliban. Families consisting of 16 people live in these apartments.

During my documentary I featured the Afghan hospital as well as the Canadian. A lot of people are still being violently attacked by Taliban. The camp where I slept was almost daily attacked by rockets. Fortunately Taliban still fires many unexploded shells which saves a lot of lives.

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