Lorenzo Tugnoli

Afghanistan: Before and after August 2021

L’idea di “libertà” è stata parte della grammatica della propaganda su entrambi i lati del conflitto in Afghanistan. L’Operazione Enduring Freedom ha segnato l’inizio della Guerra al Terrore del governo degli Stati Uniti, mentre i talebani hanno ottenuto per lo più il sostegno della popolazione Afgana promettendo la libertà dagli invasori stranieri. Con queste immagini racconto la storia del crollo del governo afghano, del fallimento dell’intervento straniero e delle conseguenze immediate. Prima dell’agosto 2021, ho documentato la lotta delle forze di sicurezza afghane per contenere l’avanzata dei talebani insieme alle conseguenze della guerra sulla popolazione civile. Man mano che i talebani si rafforzavano e le città principali erano le uniche aree ancora sotto il fermo controllo del governo, un flusso di rifugiati si avvicinava ai centri urbani e le forze di sicurezza Afgane subivano pesanti perdite. Questa transizione ha rivelato la natura profondamente corrotta e clientelare dello stato Afghano che non poteva rifornire l’esercito e mantenere la lealtà delle autorità locali.
Ben presto, una provincia dopo l’altra negoziò la resa ai talebani. Sono tornato in Afghanistan dopo agosto per documentare come sta cambiando il paese sotto il regime dei talebani. Molti cittadini Afgani temono il ritorno alle regole draconiane imposte dai talebani alla fine degli anni ’90. A loro volta, i talebani sono riusciti a respingere l’invasore straniero e ora devono trasformare la guerriglia in governo e trasformarsi da un gruppo di milizia disordinato in un governo legittimo. Dopo tanti cambiamenti improvvisi e traumatici, ora l’Afghanistan è sull’orlo di una crisi umanitaria: con il crollo del vecchio sistema statale e gli aiuti finanziari internazionali congelati in una fase di stallo politico, gran parte della popolazione è precipitata in condizioni di estrema povertà. In Afghanistan, invece, molti continuano a lottare per una vita senza guerre e povertà, per la libertà di espressione e di istruzione. Questa lotta per la libertà è diventata una parte intrinseca delle loro vite e pochi sono disposti a rinunciarvi.

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 è un fotografo italiano con base in Libano che copre il Medio Oriente e l’Asia centrale. Il suo lavoro è un’esplorazione continua delle conseguenze umanitarie dei conflitti nella regione.

Ha trascorso cinque anni vivendo in Afghanistan dal 2009 al 2015 e da allora è tornato indietro per continuare la sua copertura del paese.

Nel 2014 pubblica “The Little Book of Kabul”, un progetto di libro che ritrae un ritratto di Kabul attraverso la vita quotidiana di alcuni artisti che vivono in città, in collaborazione con la scrittrice Francesca Recchia.

È un fotografo a contratto per il Washington Post e il suo lavoro è stato pubblicato, tra gli altri, da The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal e Time Magazine.

Entra a far parte dell’agenzia fotografica Contrasto nel 2017.

Nel 2019 ha ricevuto il Premio Pulitzer per la fotografia di lungometraggio e il primo premio nella categoria Storie di cronaca generale del World Press Photo per la sua copertura della crisi in Yemen.

Nel 2020 la sua copertura della guerra in Afghanistan ha ricevuto il primo premio nella categoria Contemporary Issues Stories del World Press Photo e il primo premio al trofeo fotografico di Bayeux Calvados.

Nel 2021 la sua copertura dell’esplosione del porto di Beirut ha ricevuto il primo premio nella categoria Storie di cronaca generale del World Press Photo.