Lorenzo Tugnoli

Afghanistan: Before and after August 2021

The idea of “freedom” has been part of the grammar of the propaganda on both sides of the conflict in Afghanistan. “Operation Enduring Freedom” marked the beginning of the US government’s War on Terror while the Taliban mostly garnered Afghan population’s support by promising freedom from foreign invaders. With these images, I tell the story of the collapse of the Afghan government, the failure of the foreign intervention and the immediate aftermaths. Before August 2021, I documented the struggle of the Afghan Security Forces to contain the advancement of the Taliban along with the consequences of the war on the civilian population. As the Taliban grew stronger and the main cities were the only areas still under firm government control, a stream of refugees moved closer to urban centers and the Afghan Security Forces suffered heavy casualties. This transition revealed the deeply corrupt and clientelist nature of the Afghan state that could not resupply the Army and maintain local authorities’ loyalty.

Soon, one province after the other negotiated a surrender to the Taliban. I went back to Afghanistan after August to document how the country is changing under the Taliban regime. Many urbanite Afghans fear the return to the draconian rules that the Taliban imposed during the late 1990s. In turn, the Taliban have been successful in pushing the foreign invader out and now need to change guerrilla into governance and morph from a ragtag militia group into a legitimate government. After so many sudden and traumatic changes, now Afghanistan is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis: with the collapse of the former state system and the international financial aid frozen in a political standstill, a large part of the population plunged into extreme poverty. In Afghanistan, however, many continue to fight for a life with no war and poverty, for freedom of expression and education. This fight for freedom has become an intrinsic part of their lives and few are prepared to give it up.

HELMAND, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 25, 2021
The Arghandab river marks a stretch of land between the cities of Kandahar and Lashkar Gha. At the time this image was take some areas around the river were controlled by the Taliban and intense fighting were ongoing.

GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN – DECEMBER 3, 2019

Members of the Ghazni police force stand to attention at the entrance of a police outpost outside Ghazni city. Taliban militants were often attaching Afghan security forces at night. Some of the bases came under fire on a daily basis.

KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN – JULY 15, 2021
Elite special forces unit – known as KKA or Afghan Special Unit – take shelter from gunfire during a night operation. After American troops began leaving Afghanistan in early May 2021 the Taliban mounted an offensive and took control of many district in northern Afghanistan. Security forces were struggling to hold the besieged city of Kunduz.

LASHKAR GHA, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 26, 2021
Civilian take shelter inside a house in Helmand while fighting between the Taliban and the Afghan security forces rages nearby. After American troops began leaving Afghanistan early May the Taliban mounted an offensive near the southern city of Lashkar Gha. Afghan security forces were struggling to hold the besieged city in Helmand province.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 9, 2021:
Family members takes part to a funeral of an Afghan Army soldiers in the capital Kabul. Niazi was killed after his outpost in Baghlan province was surrounded by the Taliban.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 24, 2021
A group of Afghan army soldiers scramble to treat a comrade who has been injured by a bullet in a frontline position in the district of Panjway, outside the city of Kandahar.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – JULY 30, 2021
Women and children, recently arrived from the provinces collect water in a IDP camp inside the city of Kandahar. In the weeks prior the Taliban gained territory and encircled the city of Kandahar. Thousands of refugees streamed to the city and security forces found themselves engaged in a battle inside the city limits.

LASHKAR GHA, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 27, 2021
A member of the Afghan security forces, injured during the fighting, is evacuated on a military flight from Kandahar airfield to Kabul. After American troops began leaving Afghanistan in early May the Taliban mounted an offensive in the southern city of Lashkar Gha. Afghan security forces were struggling to hold the besieged city.

LASHKAR GHA, AFGHANISTAN – MAY 26, 2021
An area of Camp Bastion, previously used by US forces as living quarters, now lays abandoned.

BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN – OCTOBER 9, 2021
A Taliban militants shows his pistol at a checkpoint outside the former US base of Bagram. Bagram military base and its airfield were used by the Russian army then by the US army and is now under the control of the Taliban.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 17, 2021
Sheikh Mohammad Khalid, minister for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, speaks at Abdul Rahman mosque during Friday prayer. After the Taliban took over they replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the ministry of ‘vice’ and ‘virtue’. The Taliban’s morality police implemented the group’s austere interpretation of Islamic law during their previous government in the late 90s.

WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN – OCTOBER 14, 2021
Taliban militants gather around an explosive device in a house previously used as a hideout by the group. Small units of militants used to plant explosive along the main roads in the countryside to target foreign and Afghan troops. They are now patrolling the roads that they used to attack.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 26, 2021: Street sellers sits outside Rabia Balkhi hospital in central Kabul. After the Taliban took over, the US froze nearly $9.5 billion of Afghanistan central bank assets and the country plunged into poverty. Around Afghanistan people are selling their belongings to collect cash that is no longer provided by the banks as before.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 20, 2021
Images depicting women and clean shaved men have been painted over from hairdressers and beauty parlours shop windows. Even if the Taliban have not officially requested it, owners have acted in fear of retaliation.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
A burka clad woman sits near a blast wall in an area formerly called Masoud square. Named after Ahmad Shah Massoud, a mujahideen leader who fought against the Taliban in the ’90 the square is now awaiting for a new name.

WARDAK, AFGHANISTAN – OCTOBER 14, 2021
A Taliban militant stands near a stash of ammunitions previously used to make explosive devices.

GHAZNI, AFGHANISTAN – OCTOBER 18, 2021
A group of Taliban gather in prayer inside a former US base in Ghazni province. After the Taliban took over the country they appropriated all kinds of military equipment that were sent to the Afghan government by its western allies.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN – OCTOBER 19, 2021: Malnutrition have soared after Afghanistan central bank assets were frozen. The paediatric ward of the central hospital in Kandahar is now overwhelmed with malnourished children. Since there is not enough space available two or three little patients share each bed.

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
A writing on the wall of the former US embassy reads “Oh my country, congratulations for your freedom!”. The Taliban claims to have brought freedom to Afghanistan while defeating the foreign invader. The new symbol of the Afghan government is visible in the center while on the left is a graffiti with the Taliban flag.

Beirut, Libano
www.lorenzotugnoli.com

Lorenzo Tugnoli is an Italian photographer based in Lebanon who covers the Middle East and Central Asia. His work is an ongoing exploration of the humanitarian consequences of conflicts in the region.

He spent five years living in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2015 and since then have travelled back to continue his coverage of the country.

In 2014 he published “The Little Book of Kabul”, a book project that depicts a portrait of Kabul through the daily life of a number of artists who live in the city, in collaboration with writer Francesca Recchia.

He is a contract photographer for The Washington Post and his work has been published by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine among others.

He joined the photography agency Contrasto in 2017.

In 2019 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography as well as the first prize in the General News Stories category of the World Press Photo for his coverage of the crisis in Yemen.

In 2020 his coverage of the war in Afghanistan was awarded the first prize in the Contemporary Issues Stories category of the World Press Photo as well as the first prize at the Bayeux Calvados photo trophy.

In 2021 his coverage of the port explosion in Beirut was awarded the first prize in the General News Stories category of the World Press Photo.