There's a real eyeopening news story on BBCNews from a reporter in the border region between Peshawar Pakistan and Jalabad Ahghanistan. It's not directly about the US and allies fighting the Taleban but about one way the governments in those two subAsian countries effect the lives of the people living there. The reporter wrote of a trip with a truck driver who had agreed to let him ride in his truck "so I can see for myself the trials and tribulations faced by the average Afghan transporter." This truck driver that day was carrying 15 tons of tomatoes he picked up in Peshawar, goods that are especially subject to spoilage, and even more so on a hot day summer's day.

Having to pay bribes to Customs agents and police officers on both sides of the Afghan/Pakistan border in order to carry out business has become common place for transporters. "Nothing gets done without money these days. During the Taleban days, we didn't have to pay bribes," this truck driver says, visibly angry, according to the reporter. And he was not alone in telling the BBC reporter the same story. Quotes are included from several transporters - just a few of the those that every day are part of the stream of hundreds of trucks and cars, laden with passengers and goods, that pass through Torkham, in Nangarhar province, one of the busiest crossing points between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Read the full short article - "Bribery rules on Afghan roads".