In 'safe' Afghan province, few want NATO forces to depart | McClatchy: "Poverty is endemic in Bamiyan and the infrastructure barely past medieval, but this peaceful province is about as good as it gets in Afghanistan today.
The road to the pristine Band-e-Amir lakes is being paved. September's parliamentary elections were violence-free here, and business isn't bad at Hassan Ali's craft shop on Bamiyan's single, bustling thoroughfare.
Yet word that the province could be among the first to be 'transitioned' away from NATO's security blanket and turned over to Afghan forces has sent tremors of unease through Afghanistan's central highlands.
'As soon as they leave, these different ethnic groups will start fighting each other,' said Ali, whose one-room shop stocks scarves, rugs and carpets made by a women's cooperative. 'We're Afghans, and we know our people very well. We cannot coexist with each other.'"
