McClatchy - Truth to Power
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/06/29/96778/dangerous-afghan-highway-threatens.html

Dangerous Afghan highway threatens NATO supply flow

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

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By Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers

The road from Kabul to Kandahar, built with U.S. aid money, has become the most dangerous highway in Afghanistan. Roadside bombs and armed ambushes plague drivers on the route from the capital to the spiritual home of the Taliban.

MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan — Under relentless siege by Taliban insurgents, the crucial road that links the country's most important cities, Kabul and Kandahar, has become one of the most dangerous highways in Afghanistan — if not on the planet — over the past year.

Insurgents have blown up a dozen bridges, six causeways and 85 culverts, according to U.S. officials. There were nearly 300 attacks on the road in a recent five-week period, mostly on armed convoys that were carrying goods for NATO forces. The Taliban have set up checkpoints to demonstrate their control of the highway.

The Kabul-Kandahar highway, part of the ring road that links Afghanistan's major cities, is a symbol of the American commitment to encourage commerce and put the country on its feet. The U.S. spent $1 billion to rebuild the ring road, and an estimated 35 percent of the country's population lives within 30 miles of the Kabul-Kandahar stretch.

The International Security Assistance Force said there were about 90 improvised-bomb strikes, 120 bombs found and 290 armed attacks on the highway from May 6 to June 10.