Abundant Afghan Harvest Wilts Amid Violence and Extortion<br />Each checkpoint extorts two to three melons, he said, adding, "The extortion is not only fruit — they ask for money, too." Abdul Wahab, who grows melons in restive Baghlan Province to sell in Kabul, said he had spent 86,000 afghanis, or about $1,300, on farm expenses like seeds, fertilizer<br />and labor, only to sell the melon crop for a total of $220.<br />Mohammed Hafiz said that I bought two melons — 30 afghanis each,<br />Maidan had that Tak, tak, tak — the shooting starts, and we have to take cover,<br />Bashir said that When we woke up in the morning, the farmer had disappeared — and the truck driver was left with the fruit,<br />"And when you say, ‘Why, for God’s sake, be a little fair,’ they say, ‘Don’t move your lips, I will smash your mouth.’" He sighed, "It’s a football match,<br />and we are kicked back and forth." In recent years, the violence in Afghanistan has dipped and peaked along with the spring and fall harvests — the prosperity of one and the desperation of the other each dangerous in its own way.<br />Siamuden Pasarly said that If you transport melons from Kunduz to Kabul, the shipment gets stopped and extorted up to 41 times,<br />Mohammed Ayar said that I start the fire an hour before the sunrise, and the tea is boiling by the time the sun comes out,
