Today we’ll get a chance to visit an Afghan military base. The images below are parts of old Soviet equipment located nearby as it was not allowed to take pictures of the base itself.

On June 23, 2011 President of the USA Barack Obama said he would remove American troops out of Afghanistan.

He made the promise before his elections and now he is trying to implement the idea into practice.

5000 soldiers will be sent home in July and 5000 other soldiers will reach their families by the end of the year.

Still, it is widely believed that Afghanistan will hardly become a country of peace following the removal of American troops.

The national army of the country is not yet strong enough to handle the political situation.

Corruption prospers here, many soldiers are drug-addicts and are secret followers of Taliban.

As soon as the American army leaves the country, the Taliban will take power.

It seems that it is the local police that are able to control the situation. Some their units look quite effective.

Any healthy man who is 18-35 years old can enter the army and get 150-200 dollars a month which is far from being enough.

In spite of the low salary many people are willing to become soldiers as being a soldier is the only way to earn some money due to unemployment.

Officers get higher salaries, are trained by American instructors and gained nice experience at the time of the civil war.

The military base appeared to be a real fortress with high walls, barbed wire and elaborated entry system leading to a trap attacked by fire.

Nobody can leave the base including a perfectly trained soldier.

The base looks ideal inside. Barracks or well ventilated tiny houses stand in a line.

Administrative buildings look ideal, too. Soldiers and officers wear well-fitting uniforms and are ready to use bullet-proof Hammers if there is a need.

Their army is well disciplined which disagrees on the opinion according to which Afghan soldiers are not organized.

Police are well-equipped as well. Regular policemen get 150-200 US dollars, whereas officers get 300-500 US dollars a month.

Unlike the army men, the income of the police can be much higher due to bribes.

The policemen are trained by European and Canadian specialists.

via zyalt



