Kabul’s ‘Car Guantanamo'

Kabul traffic officers among cars and motorbikes seized during often routine traffic stops for violations that include invalid licenses and out-of-date registrations. Bryan Denton for The New York Times

In Kabul’s ‘Car Guantánamo,’ Autos Languish And Trust Dies -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — On the northern edge of Kabul, down a road riddled with mammoth potholes, is a secure site that bears all the marks of a prison: high stone walls topped with concertina wire, police officers barking into walkie-talkies, forsaken visitors pacing the compound’s edge, waiting for a sign of hope.

Residents here call it Car Guantánamo.

Behind these walls are thousands of cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles and even bicycles, lined up in vehicular purgatory after falling afoul of the Kabul traffic police. Things that have landed cars in the slammer: illegal left turns, parking violations, involvement in fender-benders and, perhaps most egregious, failure to pay a bribe.

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My Comment: I had a similar experience when visiting friends in Belarus. Even though it happened 20 years ago .... I am still p____!