Many reading this will be aware of the horrible incident that occurred in Bamiyan on the 17
th
of May 2024. At the time of writing, the feeling in Bamiyan is still raw amongst the locals. A place which has traditionally been unscathed by the day-to-day concerns of violence and attacks.
The attack became particularly public because it was the first incident like this that has occurred since the Taliban took over in August 2022. Before the Americans and other Western nations left Afghanistan, the idea of an attack against a western tourist was a day-to-day concern. Very few tourists travelled to Afghanistan and those that did took the situation very seriously, but of course incidents still occurred.
Then in 2022, all this changed. One of the things that the Taliban has brought to Afghanistan is relative stability. Even those who are fervently against the new government agree that the streets across the country are a lot safer. We could argue about why this is and whether it’s worth the sacrifice in other aspects of life, however, this in itself is a fact. This has led to a dramatic increase in tourists travelling to Afghanistan, which is a great thing for the Afghan people.
However, Afghanistan is still effectively a war zone. Several thousand ISIS followers still roam the country, while at the same time some former Taliban have not accepted the new peace, with lone wolves targeting foreign interests. Coupled with ongoing resistance attacks, Afghanistan is still a country you need to take great caution in and heed expert advice.
This substantial increase in tourists has, however, led to two interesting trends. The first is the number of independent travellers now in Afghanistan. While travelling by yourself should naturally mean that you stand out less than being in a group, there are a lot of issues with doing this, and ultimately, the cons far outweight the pros when it comes to making a decision about whether to join a group or not.
However, by travelling independently you are innately travelling slower than you would in an organised trip, thus increasing the chances that someone who doesn’t have your best interests at heart is able to catch up with you. Likewise, there are places that are more dangerous than others, places you wouldn’t naturally be aware of. Being unfamiliar with Afghanistan, it would also be difficult to sense trouble, as occurred with the unfortunate Spanish group. Finally, there are also increasing instances of travellers being detained by the Taliban, if only for a short period, because they are travelling independently. When might one of these detainments go wrong? Being detained by the Taliban is not something than will happen on a properly guided tour with all appropriate permits pre-organised.
The second trend is the number of new guides appearing in Afghanistan. In part because of the increased numbers of tourists, and, in part because of the number of previous guides and fixers who fled when the new government took over. A large number of inexperienced guides have come in to fill the void with very little security knowledge, and with the use of the internet these days, it is very easy to enter the market. These guides are willing to work for very little, and as the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. These new guides have been giving their guests a lot of freedom, while also encouraging the use of public transport and other cost-saving measures, and not observing basic security precautions such as limiting time in any one location, or ensuring guests are wearing location appropriate clothing.
Of course, for the vast majority of travellers, they will have nothing but fond memories of an amazing country. However, in a country still warring with itself and outside influences, and where pretty much anything could still happen at any point, we may see more horrible incidents if travellers don’t take the extremely important and necessary precautions before travelling to Afghanistan. And it’s not just for your own sake that you should heed these security concerns and travel cautiously, but for the sake of other travellers, now and in the future, and of course also for all the locals who will get caught up in any issues.