Rundfunk in Afghanistan
1948-1979: Radio Afghanistan aus Yakatut
There is a well-paved highway running north from Kabul up through the very long Salang Tunnel. The area is so high and the air is so rarified that motor cars will not run properly. On one occasion, insurgents sealed both ends of the tunnel, effectively suffocating and killing several thousand people in their motor vehicles. This highway runs up to the border with Uzbekistan and in those days the Russian guards were quite friendly and they would invite visitors to walk across the wooden bridge to visit with them. In these northern provinces of Afghanistan, it was impossible to hear Radio Afghanistan Kabul on mediumwave because of the high mountain range in between. The local people listened instead on mediumwave to the relay service from Radio Moscow in their own languages.There have been several attempts on the part of the Afghan government to install a network of local mediumwave stations thoughout their country.
Because of the difficulties encountered in establishing a network of local mediumwave stations thoughout Afghanistan, instead a regional service in local languages was on the air for several years using two transmitters in the tropical shortwave bands. At one stage, these two transmitters carried a health program from Adventist World Radio translated into the two official languages, Dari and Pushto.However, Bengt Ericson in Sweden observes that there are now four mediumwave stations on the air in Afghanistan. These stations can be heard on 657 kHz, 864,1107 and 1584, and they are located in Kabul, Kandahar and Mizar-i-Sharif.
