Adraskan

In early April I travelled to Adraskan District in Herat Province which is in north western Afghanistan. The purpose of the trip was to attend the opening of the new Afghan Civil Order Police (ANCOP) training facility.

The dark circles in the background are the tents of the Kuchi, which in Persian means "those who travel". The Kuchi are bedouins or nomads, and their tent villages are scattered all over Afghanistan. They always settle near a water source and all of them have large herds of goats. They live just like Abraham did in the Old Testament.

The terrain in north west Afghanistan is hilly but not as mountainous as the east. The environment is dry and arid with scattered green zones near rivers and water sources. The specks in the background are a Kuchi goat herd.

This is one of the green zones fed by irrigation ditches by the river in the far background.

A close up of one of the goat herds

Another Kuchi settlement with a cemetery in the foreground

Irrigation fed fields with a goat herd on the slope in the background.

A permanent village, and much like Farah, the dwellings have a domed roof.

Even though many Afghans have vehicles, most still rely on beasts of burden. It is not unusual to share the highway with donkey carts and cars.

A hasty formation of the 1st ANCOP class at their new facility.

A fish out of water. An Italian HH-3F Sea King Helicopter. This bird brought in the General and the Minister of the Interior to visit the facility.

The Italian version of the Apache flying escort for the Sea King

ANP LTV (Light Terrain Vehicle), the work horse of the ANP.