At the time of the recording of this video, Afghanistan was still under control of the Taliban.

Salang Pass Road
The Salang Pass road, a 7 meter/21 foot wide two-lane highway, cuts through the Hindu Kush mountains, connecting Afghanistan's capital city Kabul to the northern provinces. The route has been used for centuries as a trade artery, dating back to the time of Alexander the Great and the famed Silk Road. Built by the former Soviet Union as part of an infrastructure development plan for Afghanistan, the Salang Pass Road is a vital piece of the fragile Afghan economy that relies heavily on the use of trucks to haul goods throughout the country. It is estimated that between 10,000 and 16,000 vehicles travel on the road every day. A USAID report estimated that nearly half of the Afghanistan's commercial trade runs through the road each year.
The Salang Pass Road is also accompanied by the Salang Pass tunnel (not shown in this video), another route underneath parts of the Hindu Kush mountains that stretches 2.67 kilometer/1.66 miles. At its highest point, the Salang Pass road extends 3,350 meters/11,000 feet in elevation. In winter, snowfall and frequent avalanches often render the road impassable. In warmer seasons, rainfall muddies the way, making travel by vehicle slippery and dangerous.
A true adventure of a drive, the Salang Pass road as shown in this video is part of the AH-76 road, a larger network of highways knows as the Asian Highway Network. This set of highways stretches from Japan to the borders of Belarus in Turkey, spanning over 20,557 kilometers/12,744 miles. Despite being located on an incredible highway system linking different ends of the world together and being a major economic artery for Afghanistan, the Salang Pass road is often in need of repairs and maintenance due to the heavy abuse it suffers from large volumes of traffic. Rampant corruption in Afghanistan has left the road in pretty much its original state since its construction by Soviet engineers in the 1960s. International aid amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars has done little to help the road's less than ideal conditions. Unfortunately, road building is often seen as one of the most profitable ventures for the corrupt in Afghanistan.
The government is usually reluctant to shut down the road for full scale repairs. Quick fixes and spot repairs are often preferred, as closures result in tremendous backups and have reportedly caused fuel prices in Kabul to skyrocket in winter months. Even though the Salang Pass Protection Department issues warnings for travelers, avalanches and heavy snowfall routinely block the Salang Pass tunnel and the road altogether. Avalanches in the winter, floods in the warmer seasons, and dangerous accidents lead to more than 100 deaths each year on the road.

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