Panjshir Valley

(c) Roger Leo

A long, long day yesterday touring the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, where Massoud, the hero of Afghanistan, fought in turn the Russians, the Mujahaden and the Taliban. Soviet tanks and armored personnel carriers are scattered across the landscape. In places, these rusting skeletons of war have been built into riverbanks to control erosion, into stone walls to keep animals in or out, and are being used as dwellings or guard posts. Elsewhere they have been gathered into clusters. And in still other spots, they stand starkly against the rolling grass-covered land.