Afternoon

There was a long line of cars -- few pedestrians. There was a "humanitarian" at the southern end, and he allowed everyone to pass through without difficulty. The situation in the north was terrible. There were wind storms, dust and garbage was swirling around and people were waiting for an hour -- mostly women, many with babies, and young children. There were 11 soldiers there, including "humanitarian" and a volunteer, but only 4 of them were checking. We tried to get the 7 who were doing nothing to speed up the checking, but they told us we were bothering them and that we had to get away from the checkpoint. When we refused to move, they held up the line and said that there would be no more checking until we moved away. We contacted the company commander and reported what was going on. After the conversation, the checking continued more efficiently. At the southern end of the checkpoint, we saw a policewoman take the papers from 10 cab drivers. We immediately called the hotline, and the matter was resolved within the hour.