Young boys on donkeys watch over flocks of goats, sheep and donkeys near the top of the Shebar Pass, which crosses into the Province of Bamiyan. Due to a devastating drought in the region, dry wheat farming has failed for three years from 1998-2002 and the forage is extremely sparse, The pass is a strategic point leading into the Central Highlands, the Koh-i-Baba range and the Hazarajat, at the end of the Hindu Kush. Most of the people of this region are of the Hazara tribe, and are Shi'a Moslems who have been persecuted for centuries by many of the Pashtun rulers of Afghanistan, who are from the Sunni sect.

asia central asia afghanistan south asia hazara shepherds donkey three young men dry road shebar pass drought