After War, Afghan Plain Begins to Flourish

18 November 2010

Before the Taliban took control in 1996, the people of Shomali relied on their harvest for food. It is not like it was in the past, but they say their morale is high and they are hopeful.

Nine years after the fall of the Taliban, one of the regions in Afghanistan most damaged by 30 years of war is slowly coming back to life.

On Fridays many Kabulis pack into their cars and leave the traffic-jammed capital behind. They get on the Kabul-Mazar highway and head out about 20 kilometers to the Shomali Plain. Here they relax in vineyards, eat grapes, dried fruit and walnuts, and drink tea.

The stretch of land from Kabul to Shomali is some of the most fertile in Afghanistan. But the plains saw heavy fighting over the past 30 years, serving as a frontline first after the Soviet invasion and then under the Taliban years. Homes and farms were destroyed, large areas were littered with mines.

But things are changing.

Back to life

The one-lane highway is now two. Farmers have come back and replanted their vines. Residents say in the past few years they have again been able to rely on their land for food.

Ghyas, who works in Kabul, makes the commute from Shomali to the capital several times a week. His family has lived in the district of Gul Dara for generations.

Gul Dara means "valley of flowers" in Dari. Ghyas remembers what the plain was like before the Taliban.