Check out this car absolutely rocketing through the desert in Afghanistan - the dust plume it’s kicking up is over a kilometre long!

This is actually Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, which as well as playing a pivotal part in the War against Terror is also likely responsible for as much as 42% of the world’s opium production.

So basically there’s any number of reasons why this car might be travelling at such a speed out here.

Thanks to H20s.

In the hills over Afghanistan a man named Omar has very kindly chosen to let the whole world know exactly where he is standing. Just to the left of the arrow under the giant word “ME“.

Omar is probably also responsible for the nearby large type stating “NO DRUGS“; a worthwhile message as (since the Taliban were toppled in 2001), worldwide drug use has soared, and Afganhistan is on its way back to once again becoming the world’s largest heroin producer.

Thanks: Terrafax

To the North of Afghanistan’s capital Kabul is the “Tank Graveyard“. Here there are hundreds of Soviet tanks, left there since the end of the Soviet war in 1989, slowly rusting away.

Apparently the Taliban used this field for collecting spare tank parts to service the active tanks in the military base just to the East. You can see that the U.S. bombers have destroyed most of the buildings in this base and there are large craters in the surrounding grounds.

Good ground level pics of the graveyard on this Russian page (warning: site features some NSFW advertising).

Thanks: jher

Remember the Afghan Royal Palace? Well David Quin from Melbourne had seen it from ground level and took photos! He writes:

I was in Kabul in September 2003 working with the UN, writing the software for the voter’s registration system used during 2004. Whilst there had a good look around the palace. It had indeed been a magnificent building - but has (as the aerial photo shows) been extensively damaged and looted.

It is in quite a state:

Check out the UXO (UneXploded Ordnance) warnings and the shell half-buried in the ground in the third photo.

Thanks David!

Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan is currently being used by US forces as part of operation “Enduring Freedom” (geez, who makes up these names?). The Airbase played a key role during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan back in the ’70s, serving as a base of operations for troops and supplies. Aircraft based at Bagram provided close air support for Soviet and Afghan troops in the field.

In 1989 the Soviets pulled out due to international pressures and the loss of over 15,000 troops due to the US funded mujahideen fighters. Fighting subsequently continued among the various mujahidin factions. This eventually gave rise to a state of warlordism. The chaos and corruption involved in warlordism in turn spawned the rise of the Taliban. The US and an international force intervened (again) in 2001 with the invasion of Afghanistan and re-claimed Bagram Airbase with its 10,000 foot landing strip.

The following picture is an old satellite shot from the ’70s showing a Soviet Mig parked just off the main strip…

…and this is what it looks like now:

cool huh?

There are lots of other interesting aircraft parked at the airbase. Single and twin rotar helicopters (Chinooks, Blackhawks & Apaches), A-10 tankbusters, a huge bomber C-17 cargo plane and some AV-8B Harrier jump-jets. Thanks for all your aircraft identification help!

Thanks: Joe Phillips, seamus & Heinz Felber

The old Royal Palace in Afghanistan is a bombed out shell of a building which must have been quite impressive in its time. The palace was designed by a French architect and originally built in 1923 by King Amanullah. The King even had a small railway line laid, so he could travel by train into the centre of Kabul! The palace was surrounded by beautiful gardens (which you can still see the outlines of) before being destroyed by factional fighting in 1992 and looted. There are currently plans to restore the palace and use it for the countries new parliament. Although this is expected to take around 10 years and cost in excessive of $60 million.

Thanks: Jean Lorraine