ON THE JALALABAD-KABUL HIGHWAY, Afghanistan — The most important lifeline to Kabul is plagued by murderous bandits who have robbed and killed foreign correspondents and mutilated Afghans.

Traveling down this winding, rock-and-dirt route through deep, narrow gorges is best done in a convoy protected by Afghans armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Everyone knows the worst stretch is a claustrophobic corridor which winds for several miles through steep mountains near the lawless town of Sarobi.

Most food, machinery, medicine and other items which Kabul, the Afghan capital, needs to survive are imported via Pakistan along this highway.

Trucks, taxis, buses and private vehicles reach Afghanistan from Pakistan by starting from the barren Khyber Pass which cuts through the border and links the two countries.

After going west for 47 miles (78 kilometers) on a relatively safe, two-lane road, travellers can stop at Jalalabad.

Jalalabad is a desert oasis, rustic provincial capital of Nangarhar province and the largest town in eastern Afghanistan.

Gunmen for Hire

In Jalalabad's dusty streets, Afghan gunmen are available for hire but prices are steep.

On a recent journey from Jalalabad west to Kabul, an 88-mile (146-kilometer) journey, it cost 4,000 U.S. dollars for five foreign correspondents to be accompanied by five gunmen in four vehicles.

Convoys can bargain the price down, or include more vehicles, passengers or gunmen, if the danger has tapered off and if anyone else is willing to go.

Our journey began at 8 a.m. and the road quickly degenerated into a rock-encrusted, axle-threatening rut.

While stopping on the edge of Jalalabad for gasoline, the "commander" of the gunmen announced: "All the foreigners should wrap a cloth around your heads. Hurry."

The commander hoped Afghans along the road would not immediately detect the presence of three Poles, a Frenchman and an American if we were wearing makeshift turbans.

An hour later, in the middle of a desolate canyon, our vehicle broke down and the convoy was forced to halt in a silent wilderness.

"Cannot repair," the commander said.

After deciding not to go back, the gunmen and journalists squeezed into the remaining three vehicles and continued west.

Nangarhar province was relatively safe because it is under an anti-Taliban Eastern Alliance which has formed a loose friendship with Kabul's ruling U.S.-backed Northern Alliance.

Badlands

But when the dirt road exits Nangarhar province, you move through miles and miles of dreaded badlands before and after Sarobi where no one is in control.

At the entrance of the tallest, longest gorge, unidentified men murdered four foreign correspondents and their translator in mid-November.

They were at the front of a lengthy convoy from Jalalabad to Kabul when their vehicle was stopped and the five people were ordered out of the car and killed.

The convoy's other vehicles sped back to Jalalabad in panic and the bodies were retrieved the next day by an armed team.

"Oh shit, this is where it happened," muttered Victor, a Polish television correspondent, when our convoy crossed a small bridge where the five bodies were found.

Everyone in our vehicle winced and brooded.

The site of the killings was near an ominous bunker of cement rooms which appeared to have all its doors and windows removed. No one was around.

But the long, cramped gorge became deeper as jagged, tan cliffs soared higher on both sides.

Moscow-Backed Afghans

In May 1988, the first Soviet troops to withdraw after occupying Afghanistan pulled out in a 300-vehicle convoy from Jalalabad on this highway.

When they neared Kabul, their tanks, armored personnel carriers and other heavy vehicles received a showy, flag-waving commemoration.

They were cheered by Moscow-backed Afghan soldiers, Marxist officers and rounded-up villagers near the Afghan capital.

Afghans threw paper flowers at the Soviet convoy as it rumbled down the last dozen or so miles into Kabul.

In Kabul, the Soviet military convoy turned north to exit Afghanistan via Mazar-i-Sharif and the nearby "Friendship Bridge" which crosses the Amu Darya River.

All 115,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan completed their withdrawal in February 1989.

"During the Soviet time, I was a mujahideen in this valley near Sarobi and the Soviet helicopters came flying at us right here," said a gunman in our vehicle, holding a Kalashnikov between his legs with the barrel pointed straight up.

"We shot down one helicopter," he said, waving his arms to mime the choppers weaving into the gorge and then one of them falling out of the air.

"After we shot it down, the other helicopters flew away," he said smiling with pride.

During the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Moscow's helicopter gunships tried to pacify the country's main highways.

U.S.-backed Islamic guerrillas, however, grew increasingly skillful in shooting them down but the Muslim rebels always feared the heavily armed gunships.

Afghans now fear the bandits in this gorge.

No Beard, No Nose

Several days ago, a group of Afghan men traveling on this highway from Kabul to Jalalabad were stopped, robbed and reportedly had their ears and noses hacked off.

The assailants cursed their victims for "not having beards," according to sketchy reports reaching Kabul.

That indicated Taliban fighters had been in the badlands around Sarobi, despite being ousted from the vicinity of Kabul and Jalalabad.

A few days later, some Spanish journalists were robbed on their way from Kabul to Jalalabad.

A Polish reporter, meanwhile, traveling from Jalalabad to Kabul without any gunmen to protect him was robbed by one armed bandit who blocked this highway near Sarobi.

The Polish journalist arrived in Kabul on Dec. 8 broke, trembling and full of fear.

"It is not Russian roulette, it is Afghan roulette," said one worried Canadian correspondent who recently flew into Kabul and wanted to fly out soon instead of going overland.

His ticket from Islamabad, Pakistan to Kabul on a UN plane cost 1,200 dollars.

The UN flights land at Bagram Air Base 42 miles (70 kilometers) north of Kabul, where U.S., British and Northern Alliance forces are repairing the damaged Soviet-era installation.

A few weeks earlier, the same UN flights cost 2,400 dollars, but the price dropped as security at Bagram improved.

Violence on the Jalalabad-Kabul highway, however, has crippled plans by the UN and non-government organizations to transport food and other emergency items on trucks from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Aid agencies were instead forced to fly food and other cargo to Bagram Air Base to load it onto trucks there, making the assistance extremely expensive.

U.S. Bombs at Kabul Airport

Kabul International Airport was pulverized by U.S. bombardments. One or two big unexploded bombs were still blocking the airport's runway, making it impossible for normal international flights to resume.

But Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines recently flew a charter flight from Kabul to the western city of Herat and back again.

The small Ariana plane used a short lane at Kabul International Airport normally reserved only for planes to taxi across.

U.S. military officials said it may take a month or more to clean up the international airport's main runway, which could then be serviced by large commercial passenger planes.

Eventually, at about 1 p.m., our convoy from Jalalabad emerged from the badlands and arrived at Kabul's extended perimeter.

Friendly Northern Alliance forces - and a mostly paved road - greeted each vehicle and security was again assured.

Several days later, Victor and the other two Polish TV reporters, along with the French journalist, went back to Jalalabad.

They paid 1,000 dollars for two gunmen and two vehicles, and arrived safely.

My Journey to Kabul

by Richard S. Ehrlich