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Repairing potholes along the “Betonka” as vehicles approach has remained a source of income for children and war invalids to this day. Farah Province, Afghanistan, 2 April 2001...Built by the Soviets in the 1950s and suitable for tanks, the north-western part of the Afghan ring-road—called the “Betonka”—connects Herat and Kandahar. The band of concrete slabs weathered three decades of war much better than the American tarmac in the south.. (KEYSTONE/VII Photo/Daniel Schwartz)