STORY: Afghanistan struggles with nation-rebuilding 3 years after war ends
SHOOTING TIME: August 27/31, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 31, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:52
LOCATION: Kabul
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of street views in Kabul
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): ZUBAIR, Truck driver
3. various of the Kabul-Kandahar highway in Kabul
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): NAJIBULLAH ARMAN, Veteran Afghan journalist and political analyst
5. various of fruit vendors in Kabul
6. various of highway workers in Kabul

STORYLINE:

Three years after the U.S.-led troops withdrew from Afghanistan, the country remains deeply scarred by 20 years of war and struggles to rebuild amid an economic collapse exacerbated by international sanctions.

In Kabul, the Afghan capital, hundreds of trucks lined the road leading to the southern city of Kandahar. In a makeshift tent, Zubair, a truck driver, clutched a number card, waiting for a job assignment. It had been over 40 days since his last trip.

Despite surviving the war, he and many other long-haul drivers now face a different struggle -- economic hardship.

Zubair recalled that 10 years ago when he first started hauling freight across Afghanistan, he had three close friends with whom he often traveled. Five years ago, as their trucks crossed a bridge, a U.S. bomb struck, killing his three friends instantly. Zubair narrowly escaped death.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Dari): ZUBAIR, Truck driver
"We were in fear day and night, there was war in every district and every village, there were mines in every area, and 10 drivers were killed in a day."

Many Afghan truck drivers share similar harrowing experiences. Some survived the conflict, only to suffer from severe psychological trauma.

The 20-year conflict inflicted by U.S. forces caused incalculable damage to Afghanistan and its people. Over 174,000 Afghans, including more than 30,000 civilians, lost their lives during the war, and nearly a third of the population was displaced.

According to the Cluster Munition Coalition, from 2001 to 2002 the U.S. forces dropped 1,228 cluster bombs containing 248,056 bomblets in Afghanistan. Some unexploded bombs are still posing a big threat to Afghan civilians and reports of children being killed by them can be heard every month.

Afghanistan's infrastructure was destroyed by the war, making economic development difficult and leaving millions struggling to survive. According to the International Monetary Fund, Afghanistan's per capita GDP never exceeded 700 U.S. dollars during the 20 years of U.S. military occupation.

Since the war ended, Afghanistan has experienced a significant reduction in violence and a relative period of peace. According to the Global Terrorism Index, terror deaths fell by 519 in Afghanistan in 2023, an 81-percent improvement. This was the first year since 2019 that Afghanistan has not been the country most impacted by terrorism.

Najibullah Arman, a veteran Afghan journalist and political analyst, remarked that during the 20 years of U.S. occupation, media coverage was dominated by reports of bloodshed and violence. The end of the war has brought a noticeable improvement in the country's security situation, and domestic news is no longer as oppressive.

Despite the end of active conflict, Afghanistan's reconstruction faces immense challenges. The country urgently needs rebuilding, but U.S. sanctions and other economic pressure have made the task even more daunting, as they have led to a brain drain, a shortage of foreign currency and severe constraints on Afghanistan's economic development.

A World Bank report in April highlighted the country's sluggish economic performance, noting that food prices had dropped by 14.4 percent year on year in February, while non-food prices fell by 4.4 percent -- a sign of deflation in an economy already struggling to recover.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Dari): NAJIBULLAH ARMAN, Veteran Afghan journalist and political analyst
"The real victims of these sanctions are the Afghan people, It's simply unfair."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Kabul.
(XHTV)