Alaska barriers

A row of HESCO barriers Alaska barriers; Bremer walls. Then there is the ubiquitous HESCO barrier, a collapsible wire-mesh container which becomes a thick thinks bulletproof cube when filled with mud.

A row of HESCO barriers is called a bastion; piled atop one another, two or three bastions high, they form the ramparts that protect attractive Taliban targets like the US embassy, the headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force and the presidential palace that houses Hamid Karzai.

Entry into these enclaves is a white-knuckle experience even for those who work inside. As the heavily-armoured SUV in which they travel crawls up to the barrier, rifles are levelled from sandbagged pillboxes.