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12/16/2003: "Kandahar Chronicles #45 - 13/12/2003"

The days continue to be difficult and I either haven’t found the time or a computer to keep these entries coming out on a regular basis. Since my most recent entry, another bomb has gone off in the centre of Kandahar leading to a temporary suspension of MSF expat presence in the city. A little over a week ago, while I was at the airport seeing off our interim PC, Vickie, a bomb strapped to the back of a bicycle exploded near a central roundabout injuring about twenty people, five seriously. The attack was suspected to be in account of the Loya Jirga, the Constitutional Assembly, which was taking place in Kandahar during that time. This process, which registers voters for next years elections, is an attempt to secure the progression of the Interim Governing Council, of which Karzai is the president, to a nationally elected government in June 2004. Elements within the country opposed to such a course, such as the Taliban, see this time as being instrumental to disrupt these attempts at responsible government by launching indiscriminate attacks in an attempt to discredit the existing government by exposing its inability to maintain a secure environment.

The news of the blast reached Vickie and I while we chatted in the morning sunshine waiting for the UN flight to land. Almost simultaneously, cell phones beeped out a myriad of tunes and looks of grim realization clouded the faces of the people in the waiting area. Rumours of fifteen dead and more than a hundred injured were quickly dispelled as updates came from the hospital but we realized this was still deadly serious. The head of UNAMA security as well as the WFP security coordinator happened to be at the airport but their information was as sketchy as ours. All we could do was call our people and wait for further news. Eventually the flight came and Vickie was on her way while I headed back into the city. I moved out quickly to avoid being caught up in a convoy of UN and Coalition vehicles and except for a few extra checkpoints that had been hurriedly put in place the thirty minute drive to Kandahar was quiet. Upon arriving into the city centre however, I found that my planned back road approach was blocked by the Afghan police as it served as an access to the location of the LJ, and had to twist and turn through the back streets to the main road again.

I wasn’t thrilled with this development as it would send me straight to the site of the explosion but at the same time adrenaline was kicking in and I was curious to see the extent of damage. As we approached the roundabout, my driver started shaking his head and mumbling in Pashto. On one side of the street, about fifteen buildings had had all their windows blown in, while on the other about six buildings had suffered a similar fate and one shop front was completely demolished. People peered out of the empty windows at the wreckage that still littered the area. A policeman tried ineffectually to disperse the crowd but was largely unsuccessful. We crawled through the mix of humanity and debris warily, keeping one eye open for a follow up attacker and another on the carnage. Some men still smeared with dry blood stood by shakily, most of them staring at the devastation and ominous dried blood stains on the street, quietly smoking or weeping. Looking at the shattered remnants of the buildings and vehicles I find it amazing nobody was killed.

I arrived back at the compound and found Hamil waiting for me, covered in communication equipment. We had a coffee and he told me what he had heard and that the compound was rocked. I knocked back a couple more coffees before turning to the series of calls I had to make to the HQ in Kabul. With the gap between Vickie leaving and the new Project Coordinator arriving, we had decided to split the PC duties between ourselves. He would look after the programmes while I looked after security and context. Well shit, let the fun begin. It was a hell of a way to begin my new job. The calls went well, we had lots of support from Kabul and made a plan to debrief the national staff the next morning to find out their views on the situation. Until then, we got on with the endless tasks in front of us, and wondered where it would lead.