The Shomali Plain Finds a Time of Calm and Prosperity

Once one of the most heavily mined areas in the world, Afghanistan's Shomali Plain, north of Kabul and home to the Bagram airfield, is alive with economic activity. The region’s once-destroyed orchards of grapes, figs, peaches and cherries are blooming again, and new roadside businesses have sprung up to serve the heavy flow of traffic to and from the military base, just 40 kilometers north of Kabul. The paved highway that cuts north through the valley from the capital is crowded with commuters, traders, and fuel-tankers bound for the base.