Under US pressure, Afghan army starts closing checkpoints Only a tangle of razor wire marks the entrance of a remote Afghan army checkpoint that may soon be shuttered as the government closes vulnerable outposts after years of losses to Taliban fighters and desertions. The post in Wardak province west of Kabul has been hit before, and its sagging blast walls and teetering sandbags make clear the vulnerability of the 13 troops living there for weeks on end. IMAGES