Dark news from Afghanistan

Cat is a UN aid worker, based in Afghanistan. On her blog, she gave a dark report on the state of affairs in the country.

One passage gives a realistic, but at the same time also cynical, glimpse in the life of an aid worker, amidst security incidents and feeling hopeless:

Amidst feelings of guilt and general helplessness, I am also pondering my own safety.

Whilst staying on the military base the other day in Khost province for a conference, we were attacked. Three rockets were fired from the mountains close by and landed next to the base in a series of loud explosions which made my heart almost stop.

The whole place erupted into a frenzy of sirens - we were ordered to take shelter in our spartan military dormitories, donning our flak jackets and helmets and ordered to wait for further instructions from the base's loudpseaker. This is a vast US base, home to approximately 3,000 soldiers and thousands of metric tonnes of military equipment.

I sat on my little narrow bunk, everyone was quiet and the place was eerily silent except for the sound of humvees and tanks rolling past outside (they each weigh 35 tonnes, so the whole ground shook) and blackhawks and fighter planes overhead.

As we waited diligently for the all-clear, I read People magazine and caught up on Jennifer Aniston's latest news. Apparently she's really excited about turning 40 next month. (Full)

Picture courtesy Tom Hanson (AP/Canadian Press)