Afghanistan

Advice is not to travel to Afghanistan. A high threat of terrorism with specific methods of attack and increasingly sophistication Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are evident. No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from terrorism or violent hostile acts. All travel to Afghanistan should be conducted at the traveller's own risk and we strongly advise making personal security arrangements for the duration of stay within the country. Travel to Kabul and the surrounding urban areas is strongly advised against due to the ongoing threat of terrorist activity, the high risk of kidnap, violent crime and suicide attacks. The main arterial roads and supply routes have a heightened threat of ambush and IEDs. Afghanistan is littered with landmines. Water supplies are intermittent. Electricity is erratic, available only in major cities. No medical system outside of major cities is in place. Different tribes are very hostile towards each other. The Western military presence is vast and there is increase in military activity throughout the country. Religion has a strong influence over daily life. Local militia groups, weapons (assorted), ballistics danger areas, mines, booby traps, vehicle security, vehicle convoys, personal security, ambushes, kidnappings (Taliban fighters have been urged to target foreign nationals for kidnap), bandits / corruption, gunfire / snipers, legal / illegal, checkpoints, armed robberies, general travel, navigation, off road driving, building / office security, cold weather injuries, hot weather injuries, personal hygiene, sanitation / sterilisation, clothing & equipment, emergency first aid, helicopter safety, terrorism, cultures / customs, communications, emergency shelters. Afghanistan is the world's most dangerous country for women, a 2011 poll conducted by TrustLaw, legal news service of Thomson Reuters Foundation, found. More than 200 aid professionals, academics, health workers, policymakers, journalists and development specialists were asked about perceptions of danger as well as six specific risks: health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking. Afghanistan came out worst in three categories: health, non-sexual violence and economic discrimination. Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, minimal access to basic health care and education and scarcely any economic rights for women and girls. UNICEF estimates some 87 per cent of Afghan women are illiterate and one in 11 dies in childbirth. Between 70 and 80 per cent of girls and women face forced marriage.

Use bottled water only.

Mostly rugged mountains; plains in north and south-west.

Arid to semi-arid; cold winters and hot summers.

Damaging earthquakes occur in Hindu Kush mountains; flooding; droughts.