THE SURGE

摘要

We are an hour or so east of Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, when our Land Cruisers turn off the main highway and head toward a line of mountain peaks that marks the border with Pak istan. We pass a sandbagged machine-gun nest manned by Afghan cops, who glance at our white-painted vehicles with placid interest. There are two police pickups escorting us; at night this area is controlled by the Taliban, and even during the day they are watching. 1 Soon we arrive at Lai Pura, a little Y-shaped bazaar of pharmacies, bakeries, and general stores straddling a fork in the road.