Van of Valor

From Herat to the Streets of Europe

By Dr. Kevin P. Wallace

Old allies, new unrest

The streets of Turin, Barcelona and Tirana are full this autumn, and the evidence says the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal is not what filled them. I wanted it to be otherwise, or at least I feared it was.

[Author’s note: Between 2010 and 2011, I served in western Afghanistan alongside soldiers from Italy’s 6th Alpini Regiment in Bala Murghab, in Badghis Province. In Herat and Farah, I worked beside Italian soldiers, San Marco Marines, Italian airmen and Task Force 45. At Camp Arena in Herat, I served with the Spanish Army and Air Force and with Albanian soldiers, while U.S. Cavalry and MARSOC operated from nearby Camp Stone. In Bala Murghab, MARSOC and troopers of the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment shared that same hard ground.]


When Kabul fell in August 2021, the countries that had stood with us in Badghis and Herat absorbed part of the human cost. So when Italy, Spain and Albania all erupted in protest in 2026, I asked a direct question: is the withdrawal, and the refugees it set in motion, the real root of this unrest? After reviewing current reporting from all three countries, my answer is no. The withdrawal left marks on Europe, but the crowds in the streets are driven by rent, energy bills and corruption.

View from an aircraft loading ramp showing cargo being dropped over mountainous terrain.
HERAT, Afghanistan — Parachutes attached to cargo pallets begin to open and slow the pallets’ descent as they fall toward a forward operating base in Badghis Province, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2011. The pallets were airdropped from an Italian C-130J Hercules to resupply the FOB and 16 surrounding combat outposts. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace)

Italy: the cost of living, and the Afghans passing through

Italy’s autumn protests are about money and schools, not Afghanistan. On October 16, students marched in Turin and other cities on a national “No Meloni Day,” protesting the cost of living, fuel, housing and the condition of school buildings (AFP via DH). Rising energy prices have pushed inflation up, and truckers, farmers and teachers’ unions have joined the students ahead of national elections next year (Alkhaleej).

The summer’s most violent unrest did involve a migrant, but not an Afghan. In July, protests in Bologna injured 56 police officers after Abderrahim Fakir, a Moroccan man, died while being restrained by police (Al Jazeera via Newsar).

Italian police have borne the brunt of this year’s street violence. On July 25, more than 60 officers were injured near Turin when masked opponents of the Turin–Lyon rail project breached a construction site, throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and burning four police vehicles (RSOE EDIS, citing Corriere della Sera).

The Afghan story in Italy is quieter and runs overland. The International Rescue Committee counts arrivals at Trieste, on the Slovenian border, at the end of the Balkan Route. Afghanistan is consistently the leading country of origin. In August 2026, Afghans made up 521 of the 1,086 new arrivals the IRC reached (IRC). Most do not intend to stay. That month, 94 percent of the unaccompanied children were Afghan, and nearly all said they were heading elsewhere, mainly to Switzerland.

The scale of Italy’s direct role in 2021 was also limited. Italy evacuated about 3,741 Afghans from Kabul that August, most of them people who had worked with the Italian mission (ANSA). Some of them may well be the interpreters and contractors who worked beside us in Herat.

Soldiers carrying a flag-draped coffin during a military funeral ceremony.

Spain: a housing crisis and a separate border emergency

Spain’s unrest is a housing story, and it has already forced an early election. On October 2, opposition parties voted down two emergency housing decrees that would have protected tenants from eviction and restricted what critics call “vulture funds” (Ground News). The next day, about 70,000 people marched in Madrid, with demonstrations in roughly 50 other cities (Nation Thailand). Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for November 29, and in Barcelona protesters have burned trash bins and clashed with riot police (Euronews).

Most of the marches were peaceful, but not all. In Valencia, demonstrators broke into the City of Arts and Sciences complex, and nine police officers were injured (Ground News).

Spain did face a migration emergency this year, but it came from Morocco, not Afghanistan. On July 30 and 31, at least 60,000 people crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, the country’s largest migrant crisis in years (Euronews). Estimates vary; one count put the figure at 49,000, more than half of Ceuta’s population of about 85,000 (bne IntelliNews).

The crisis also strained relations between two allies I served with. Italy called for Spain’s suspension from the Schengen open-border zone, and Madrid summoned Italy’s ambassador in response. Watching Rome and Madrid trade accusations was hard for someone who remembers their soldiers sharing a camp in Herat.

Albania: corruption, a resort and a restless generation

Albania’s unrest is the largest in the country since the fall of communism, and it is about governance. Protests have run nightly for more than 100 days, with 100,000 to 200,000 people joining at their peak (Columbia Global Freedom of Expression). The anger began building after prosecutors alleged that Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku interfered in government construction contracts (Al Jazeera). It grew into a broader movement against a coastal resort project linked to Jared Kushner. In mid-October, students joined, and riots spread across Tirana (AP via WDBO).

The movement has also turned destructive. On October 14, rioters damaged at least four government ministries, smashed storefronts and set fires during more than eight hours of clashes, and 23 police officers were treated for injuries (AP via WDBO). President Bajram Begaj condemned the violence and insisted the constitution and the law bind everyone. Prime Minister Edi Rama accused his political opponents of inciting it.

Albania did play a real part in the 2021 evacuation. It agreed to temporarily house up to 4,000 at-risk Afghans before their resettlement in the United States (Arab News). By October 2021, about 1,400 were living in Shëngjin, Durrës and Tirana (OSCE PA). The Albanians I knew at Camp Arena would not have been surprised by that generosity.

Some commentators link Albania’s unrest to its 2023 deal letting Italy run migrant detention centers at Shëngjin and Gjadër. That link is weak. The deal does have committed opponents, including a cross-border network of Albanian and Italian activists (Melting Pot). But court rulings in Italy and the EU have largely emptied the centers, which cost some €600 million to build (STOL). In June 2026, only 90 people were held at Gjadër (Untold Magazine). Albania has also said it will not renew the deal after 2028 (Domani).

What the withdrawal did, and did not, do

The 2021 withdrawal is part of Europe’s backdrop, not the cause of its current unrest. It sent evacuees to Italy and Albania, and Afghans still walk the Balkan Route into Trieste five years later. Migration in general, mostly from Africa rather than Afghanistan, remains a defining issue in Italian politics. In Spain, some argue that immigration adds pressure to housing demand, while others blame tourist rentals, investment funds and too little construction. That debate is unresolved.

But the people marching in Turin, Madrid and Tirana are not chanting about Kabul. They are angry about rent, fuel, schools and corruption. Some of those grievances are legitimate. None of them justifies firebombing police vehicles or ransacking ministries, and governments are right to restore order while they address the underlying problems. Blaming Afghanistan for that anger would be convenient for those of us who carry the war with us. It would also be wrong, and it would distract from problems these countries are trying to solve on their own terms.

What I owe the soldiers I served with is accuracy. The Alpini of Bala Murghab, the Spanish and Albanian troops at Camp Arena, and the Italians in Herat and Farah all served with courage and professionalism alongside American Marines, soldiers, airmen, sailors and Special Forces units who did the same. The way the mission ended, in a 2021 withdrawal criticized across the political spectrum, was not their choice and does not diminish what they did. Their countries now face their own reckonings. Understanding those reckonings honestly is the least a former ally can do.

Dr. Kevin P. Wallace served in western Afghanistan from 2010 to 2011. All images are by Dr. Wallace, then Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace.

Forthcoming book: https://www.amazon.com/Marines-Guide-Gate-Street-ebook/dp/B0HMBH3D2S/ref=sr_1_1?crid=16JYJ0XTH2W0W&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.QlHSkHsckNkudYqa2_e1fw.SRBlA1qKKuOM65-oESxEAm6g931tjnRN7hJP9v0fSdE&dib_tag=se&keywords=marine%27s+guide+to+gate+2+street&qid=1792523154&sprefix=marine%27s+guide+to+gate+2+stree%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-1

A soldier in tactical gear stands next to a military vehicle in an urban setting, with a reflection visible in a puddle on the ground.

Sources

Two military vehicles parked in a snowy landscape with a hillside in the background showing tire tracks.
Alpine soldiers from the 6th Company, Tolmezzo Battalion, 8 Alpini Regiment, Julia Brigade, covoy from Forward Operating Base Todd to Combat Outpost Sigma, Bala Murghab, Baghdis Province, Afghanistan Jan. 14, 2011. The soldiers performed a resupply mission. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace)

Leave a Reply