Around 14 million people live along highway one, a 2,000-kilometre ring road that snakes around the Hindu Kush, connecting the country’s largest cities – Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kabul, Ghazni and Kandahar, that is fraught with danger. As Nato withdraws after a 13-year military presence, optimism and foreboding is palpable among residents. ‘The Other Islamic Republic’ is part of our expanding coverage of the region, here in partnership with Afghanistan Today