Alex Strick van Linschoten - a war reporter on the road

In a little-reported story from the north-west of Afghanistan - no doubt overshadowed by the car-bomb attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul - villagers in Qayser district used “a machine gun, sticks and stones” to chase away Taliban members, killing, in the process, the shadow-governor for Faryab province. The militants had tried to abduct local aid workers who were building a well in the Qayar ....

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Another timely reminder of the dangers on Afghanistan’s southern ringroad. 35 police officers were suspended a couple of days ago following protests by truck drivers about police corruption and kidnappings on the road from Herat to Kandahar. Incredibly, 12 drivers were kidnapped last week on the road (and I think that that’s probably a conservative figure, and of course it doesn’t mention the numbers of ....

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Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, is the focus of the country’s downward spiral. The constant threat from all sides means that travel around the city is always to run a gauntlet, everyone’s senses heightened from the fear and adrenaline as one watches for ambushes or Iraq-style IEDs. Very few journalists have visited Somalia in recent months on account of the security, and traveling down the road from ....

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The savagery of medieval warfare is widely acknowledged and understood; yet the idea of chivalry as an important and influential force in the conflicts of the Middle Ages somehow lives on in seemingly comfortable juxtaposition with this awareness. In By Sword and Fire I show that such notions of incongruent compatibility do not reflect the reality of the times. As far as the practicalities of war are ....

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I write this from my beautiful green garden in Kabul, which has changed so much as to be almost unrecognizable. We now have aubergine, mint, coriander, roses, grapes and mulberries growing, along with a lot of other stuff that I’m sure is edible but don’t know the names of. As always, there’s lots happening in Afghanistan, just not really in Kabul (again, as always). ....

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Some audio from my recent trip to Beirut. This is what celebratory gunfire from within a densely-populated urban centre sounds like - the Lebanese ‘government’ reversed two decisions that had provoked Hezbollah to take over much of Beirut, and people were pretty happy. As always, there were casualties from the large amounts of falling lead (what goes up must come down)… [Thanks to Graham ....

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Flying back to Kabul tomorrow and then on to Kandahar later in the week. Photo above is of the kit I’m taking to Kabul with me (minus clothes and my aging Sony Vaio FS750P/W). Am looking forward to seeing how my new mini Asus copes in Kandahar (dust, heat, speed etc). Finally replaced my old Ipod mini with the unassuming Creative Zen Stone Plus ....

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