Word: allah
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...Allah Mahmad is an example of the human cement that holds together the opposition Northern Alliance. In other times he would have been a farmer, working in the lush wheat fields and fruit orchards of the Shomali Plain around Bagram. Instead, at 27, he has seen six years of combat. With his high-set cheekbones, goatee, checked shawl and round woolen cap he bears a passing resemblance to Ahmad Shah Massoud, the assassinated commander who assembled these forces. In a conventional army Allah Mahmad would be a captain. Here he's called commander, a hard-earned rank denoting his seniority...
This is not a good place," says allah Mahmad, quickening his pace. "But this is where we live...
...Taliban positions 600 m away. As the sun sets behind the western mountains, we watch the enemy moving behind their lines. Between us lies a wasteland of smashed masonry, burned-out vehicles and many, many unseen mines. "For now we stay in our positions and they in theirs," says Allah Mahmad...
...farmhouse walls scarred by shrapnel and bullets. To our right, in the fading light, an empty expanse of ground stretches to Taliban positions 600 m distant. Both sides of the road are heavily mined. The road itself is totally exposed. "We're in a salient out here," says Allah Mahmad, who defends the ruins ahead. "We've got Talibs and Arabs to the left flank, the right flank and out front. For the past two years they've hit us with everything they've got. We've lost a lot of people but we're still here...
...This former army base next to the Bagram airfield 50 km north of Kabul is a tiny slice of Stalingrad, circa 1942. Beyond the gates there's scarcely a building intact?just broken walls, smashed stonework, and ground littered with spent shell casings and twisted metal. Allah Mahmad exaggerates a bit when he says his men are holding the 40th Division base. For the past two years his platoon has been hanging on to about 100 sq m of ground inside the gate. Two small buildings still have roofs and their dark, fetid rooms serve as living quarters. There...