Life inside Kabul’s fortified green zone for foreigners: ‘don’t expect a blossoming social life’

Kabul’s green zone is a place where diplomats fly in cheesecake from New York and cases of wine from Europe, but many of those living inside the heavily fortified enclave are not allowed to walk without an armed guard even for a distance of 100 metres. The walled-off compound of embassies and newsrooms, which is set to expand dramatically, imposes extreme limitations on its sheltered residents and stokes resentment among Afghans living outside. “The best possible argument to be in Afghanistan is to be a sort of introvert,” said Czech Republic Ambassador Petr Stepanek. “You don’t expect a blossoming social life.” Kabul’s central green zone is set in the affluent Wazir Akbar Khan neighbourhood. It grew from a cluster of fortified embassies after the Taliban’s 2001 overthrow by US-led forces. In 2017, a truck bomb near the German embassy, one of the green zone’s entry points, killed or wounded hundreds, prompting further enlargement. Its rapid expansion reflects the Taliban’s increasing attacks on Kabul in recent years, in a strategy shift to counter its disadvantages against US-backed air power outside the capital. Kabul police commander Sayed Mohammad Roshandil said that the green zone has been a major success. Since the Germany embassy attack, there have been no security breaches of the zone, which spans three police districts, he said. A maximum of 150 trucks are allowed inside per day, with drivers verified by biometric scanners. Police are now preparing to create a “blue zone” to surround the green zone, stretching the fortified area by between 1.5 and four kilometres, said Roshandil. Taliban say they are not looking to rule Afghanistan alone The number of closed-circuit cameras throughout Kabul would more than double to 800 within the same period, he said, helped by a US$42 million contribution from the Australian government. But beyond the grey concrete “T-walls” that surround the green zone, some Afghans resent the dangers and hassles they say such secure enclaves create. “Sometimes I feel that they are living a life completely different from us,” said Tamim, 28, a shopkeeper, of the “western style of life” inside the green zone. “We villagers cannot tolerate this camp here because our lives are in danger,” said Noor Alam, 46, a shopkeeper and resident of nearby Qala-e-Chaman Qabelbay. “The presence of foreign camps close to the common residential area is like a death threat to the people.” But Roshandil, the police commander, said residents near green zones were better off. “So far, people are welcoming this plan,” he said. “When people are living in an area with security restrictions, they should accept that. Overall, (residents) are happy.” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the green zone provided government and foreign officials mere “psychological relief”. China vows to help Afghanistan, Pakistan resolve their disputes “The green zone is not that safe as they think,” he said, adding that past Taliban attacks on it have succeeded. If the militant group agrees to a peace deal and fighting stops, the Taliban would insist that its walls were removed, Mujahid said. The development of the green zone, including Nato’s military base, in the middle of a crowded city showed “sheer disrespect” for the security of local people, said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent think-tank. For those on the inside, the green zone features comforts that are rare elsewhere in Kabul. Generators fire up during the city’s frequent power cuts, living quarters are well-heated in winter and, during hot summers, swimming pools offer relief. In an officially dry country, liquor flows at most embassies. Pet peacocks stroll the grounds of a United Nations compound. But green zone embassies offer little of the freedom common to most diplomatic postings. “Even though I get out almost every day, the places we can go are limited. It’s very difficult to get a feeling” for what regular Afghans think, said German ambassador to Afghanistan Peter Prugel. Even travel within the zone is regulated. Security details forbid some diplomats from walking to neighbouring embassies, making necessary absurdly slow, short-distance drives through internal gates and over speed bumps. “We are in a total bubble here,” a Canadian diplomat said. “There is a bit of an illusion here that what you see in Kabul is common to the rest of the country.”

Life inside Kabul’s fortified green zone for foreigners: ‘don’t expect a blossoming social life’

Green zone has been expanded as Taliban stepped up Kabul attacks Enclave has swimming pools, alcohol and peacocks – but diplomats live an isolated life

Green zone has been expanded as Taliban stepped up Kabul attacks

Enclave has swimming pools, alcohol and peacocks – but diplomats live an isolated life