Living Between Mass Surveillance, Drones And A CIA Militia

As some might remember, I had written a piq about the KPF, a CIA-backed militia that is controlling Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost. 

The KPF, or Khost Protection Force, was built during the War on Terror in Afghanistan by the United States and is well-known for several crimes and human rights violations. 

And here is my own piece about this militia and the life in Khost. I visited the province last year to cover the American shadow war in the region and to investigate war crimes such a drone strikes that killed civilians.

I was undercover in Khost. Just the people I trusted and those I interviewed knew that I was a journalist. The KPF that patrols in most parts of Khost City is famous for intimidating and kidnapping journalists.

Especially if you are there to take a look at their wrongdoings, it might become really dangerous.

Generally, Khost is dominated by a dystopian atmosphere. 

There is a CIA base, Camp Chapman, in the middle of the city. Surveillance balloons and militias are omnipresent, and in rural areas not far from the city, U.S. drones haunt the skies while brutal night raids by both the U.S. military and the KPF take place regularly.