At the Mazar

At first glance, Mazar may not seem like much of a city. From the far distance it looks like a a dusty patch of low buildings set in a large desert plain bordering snow-peaked  mountains. It does not have the teeming crowds of Kabul or the towering pines of Herat, or for that matter any tree-cover worth mentioning.

Yet, to me it turned out to be a city of superlatives: it had the largest and neatest airport  had seen in Afghanistan; the widest roads, tastiest breads, the most amazing array of carpets sold by the sharpest traders, and the loveliest Sufi shrine I have ever seen.

Just as the Italian military has a strong presence in Herat, it is the ISAF German forces that dominate this area. A large base sits right next to the airport with its helicopters hovering in and out, but unlike in Kabul the show of force and dominance is not in your face; it is subtle and understated. Once you step out the airport there are long straight roads lined with numerous gas-stations. 

Apparently this part of northern Afghanistan has been a source of oil and natural gas. Until the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, natural gas produced from the Sheberghan gas fields was exported to the Soviet Union, but also supported the operations of a fertilizer plant, a power station and a textile mill in Mazar-e-Sharif. Remnants of a Russian pipeline can still be seen in the outskirts of the city, along with remains of war munitions - rusted, hollow tanks, APCs and MiG aircraft chassis.

The Mazar of today seems like a flat expanse of mud-walled buildings and wide roads that radiate out from the grand mausoleum that gives this city its name - the Tomb of the Prince, the Shrine of Ali or the Blue Mosque.

It is a lovely, sprawling complex that gives you an immense sense of space. You step off the crowded streets into a garden complex that leads you through large gates, into a vast expanse of marble tiled courtyard.  

Looking around the bustling market that surrounds the Mazar it is difficult to imagine how, until just a few years ago, this city had been witness to brutal cycles of violence. Today there is a sense of foreboding that the Taliban may sweep in to fill in the power vacuum, once again.

For now you can walk around the cold marble floors of the Blue Mosque, walk around the sanctum filled with incense, and pray that this bustling city with it cheerful people is not sucked into yet another round of senseless violence.

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LINKS:

* Gas Pipeline (2013) - http://mom.gov.af/en/news/20123
* A brief history of natural gas in Afghanistan - http://mom.gov.af/en/page/4750
* Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport - http://www.germancooperation-afghanistan.de/sites/default/files/2017-Airport-EN.pdf