‘We Are Inside the Fire’: An Oral History of the War in Afghanistan

Afghans have endured four decades of conflict, with little prospect of peace. This is the story of the last 18 years since the American invasion, as told by the men and women who’ve lived it.

For the Afghan people, the last 18 years of war have taken an intimate toll. Living in a place where violence and death are as routine as commuting to work every morning, where indescribable loss transpires over and over and over again without reprieve, can slowly erode the spirit. As my colleague Mujib Mashal recently observed, Afghans are being blown up, shot by mistake, shot intentionally, executed or smothered by the rubble of bombed structures so frequently and their remains cleaned away so quickly that it sometimes seems as if they never existed at all.

In the contest for public perception, dead men, women and children can become no more than tally markers in casualty tolls that are regularly exaggerated or played down, depending on which side is counting. Were five people killed in the crossfire from that firefight, or seven? Were there 10 Taliban members in that now-destroyed building, or 10 civilians? With American military planners still insisting that there can be a satisfying end, Afghan officials trying to hold on to government jobs and Taliban commanders intent on instilling fear, human losses can feel like little more than numbers to be manipulated.

But beyond each tally is a family, a home, a past and, until each civilian victim’s last breath, perhaps some glimpse of hope. In July and August, the New York Times reporters Fahim Abed and Fatima Faizi traveled to 10 provinces around Afghanistan, collecting oral histories from dozens of Afghans who were watching as negotiations between the United States and Taliban leaders still teased at the possibility of peace in the near future. Some of the people Abed and Faizi met would not allow themselves to envision Afghanistan without war, while others felt that the weight of loss and the years of fighting had left both sides so tired that a truce was inevitable — because little else remained. What follows is the history of the 18 years of war that began on Oct. 7, 2001, as endured by the Afghan people whose lives — and losses — are now defined by it. —Lauren Katzenberg

1989-2001 Saeed Khan/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images After the Soviet occupation, Afghanistan fell into a civil war between factions that were mostly bound by personal loyalties. Arthur Fox/Gamma-Rapho, via Getty Images Territory and power repeatedly shifted hands, and Afghans were subjected to retaliatory attacks and violent crime. Emmanuel Dunand/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images A group of largely Pashtun fighters called the Taliban emerged in the country’s south. They disarmed most of the warring factions and took control of Kabul, promising to deliver order and rule of law.



The Taliban governed most of the country from 1996 to 2001, under a restrictive and brutal interpretation of Islamic rule. They used brutal tactics, like public beatings of both men and women, to enforce the law.

Life Under the Taliban

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Mohammad Kabir Ahmadi, former commando | Bamiyan Under the Taliban, everyday life was like living in hell. There was no food, no medicine, no doctors. The Hazaras were suffering from two things in Afghanistan: First, they are Hazara, and second, they are Shia. Both of these things were unacceptable for the Taliban. They were looking for a small excuse, and they would arrest and kill you. No one would ask why you were killed.

Halima Qasimi, teacher | Herat I remember that women were nothing except a piece of meat during the Taliban. Women were men’s property. This is how the Taliban described our identity.

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Karim Amini, journalist | Kabul We left Afghanistan for Iran in the very first year of the Taliban regime. Everyone who could leave the country did. They would go to Iran or Pakistan. Once in Iran, I was not able to go to school because we had no legal documentation, so I would play football with other Afghan refugees or go to work with my father.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Asefa Shahidi | Badakhshan When the Taliban were in power, we were living in Wardoj District. The Taliban couldn’t go there because the mujahedeen kept them away.

Agha Mohammad, farmer | Balkh I don’t care if this government imprisons me for saying this, but the Taliban were much better in imposing law and order. There was no robbery, no corruption. No one could break the Taliban law and get away with it.

Anisa | Bamiyan The Taliban killed my two brothers in a single day. We fled the district without any of our belongings, and we went to the mountains to hide.

Jamila Anwari, teacher | Helmand A group of mothers from our neighborhood came to me and asked if I could teach their daughters secretly. For nearly five years, I would go to one of my student’s houses, where everyone would gather and I would teach them lessons from first grade through ninth grade. We would always change houses to avoid being tracked by the Taliban.

Sayed Ashraf Sadat, civil activist | Herat Once I was playing football, and so I had to take off my turban. After the game, the Taliban came to my house and beat me for 15 minutes. I was a teenager and full of energy, but I was not allowed to move around.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Nargis Azaryun, N.G.O. program officer | Kabul The Taliban are the only thing I remember from my childhood. Many times, I watched them beat women on the street. I don’t exactly remember if it was my mother or aunt, but she was wearing shoes without socks, and some Taliban members saw, and they beat her up in front of me.

2001-2003 Steve Ludlum/The New York Times On Sept. 11, 2001, Qaeda operatives hijacked four airplanes and attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing nearly 3,000 Americans. Within hours, the attacks were tied to Osama bin Laden, who was living in Afghanistan, where he had built a network of Qaeda training camps. Universal History Archive/Getty Images A coalition of international forces, led by the United States, launched coordinated airstrikes against Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan. James Hill for The New York Times The Northern Alliance militia, the only small pocket of resistance against the Taliban, pushed the Taliban out of most of Afghanistan. American-led forces hunted for Taliban and Qaeda operatives who were in hiding. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times Hundreds of thousands of Afghans who sought refuge in Iran, Pakistan and other countries during the Soviet occupation and Afghan civil war began returning home.



In 2003, NATO took control of the peacekeeping force and mission, but within three years, the security situation deteriorated.

The American-Led Invasion

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Soraya Haqyar | Badakhshan I was in the third grade when the fighting started in our district; after that I could not go to school. I would love to go to school, but there is no luck right now. We have been displaced. One day in one place; the next day, somewhere else. In this situation, it isn’t possible to go to school.

Anisa | Bamiyan The Americans bombed many homes in our village. Then some people from our village told us about the good news about the fall of the Taliban. Many Hazara people were killed by the Taliban in our village. We saw dead bodies lying on the ground. We did not have enough money to rebuild our houses, so we lived in tents for a year while we rebuilt our homes.

Durranay Alizai, university student | Kandahar The Americans bombed some old Russian tanks in our district. After that bombing, the Taliban were hiding in trees close to the river. I was young, so I couldn’t understand why they were hiding in trees. I thought maybe trees had a system that saved people.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Khadim Hussain Karimi, writer | Kabul After the invasion, the first thing I did was eat pasta. I had never had it before. We had soft drinks for the first time as well. Second, I was watching television for the first time. We didn’t have a television, but my uncle did, and I watched it in his house. After the Taliban regime, it took us four years to save up and buy a TV.

Nargis Azaryun, N.G.O. program officer | Kabul I saw the first woman in my village who took off her burqa. She was the aunt of one of my best friends, and she decided to go to the street without her burqa. She had a big scarf, but her face was showing, and she took me and my friend with her. The reactions were weird. Every single person on the street was staring at her nonstop, like a new thing had come to earth.

Yassamin Azizi, business owner | Herat I was at a wedding when the bombing started. We were locked down for hours. The family told us Americans have attacked the Taliban. When I got home, I saw my uncle shaving his beard, and everybody was asking, “What you are doing?” He said, “The Taliban are gone, and now I can shave my beard.”

Raghunath Ashna, doctor | Kandahar I remember the start of the American invasion. I was in Kandahar, and I was listening to the radio all day and night. For three months, I thought I would go deaf because Americans bombed so many targets in Kandahar City.

Khadim Hussain Karimi, writer | Kabul Because of the American invasion, I went to university, and now I am a writer and a journalist. I first studied in my district, but then I came to Kabul. Now I live with my girlfriend. If the Americans were not here, maybe I would be married with 10 children.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Dalip Singh, homeopathic pharmacist | Ghazni When the Americans came to Afghanistan, they bombed parts of Ghazni City. Many buildings were destroyed, including our shrine. That is how we heard about the American invasion in Afghanistan.

Building a New Afghanistan

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Abdul Sattar, imam | Herat When Hamid Karzai first became president, before 2005, the country was peaceful, the fighting was minimal and there were not a lot of civilian casualties. At that time, I was at school, and I came to Herat and learned English. It changed my life; now I feel like I am connected to other parts of the world.

Nargis Azaryun, N.G.O. program officer | Kabul A friend of mine started an organization, through which we did a lot of volunteer work. We believed that we were doing something for Afghanistan. We used to go to the street and clean up the garbage. We used to organize events for women. We used to do movie nights and concerts and stuff like that.

Khadim Hussain Karimi, writer | Kabul Until 2010 or so, there was stability in Afghanistan. I remember going to Bamiyan and Ghazni at night. At that time, the American forces were attacking the Taliban and the situation was much better.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Hamdullah Arbab, artist | Kabul Ten years ago, people were not considering women’s opinions, but now they are included in big family decisions. A year ago, I asked a friend for a loan. He told me that his wife did not approve of it, so that was a big change.

Mohammad Reyaz, former soldier | Nangarhar During the Taliban, a building was under construction in the center of Jalalabad City for five years, but it was still not completed. After the Taliban regime, the construction was completed in a couple of months.

Mohammad Shah, construction worker | Balkh When there was stability in the first years, we would have fun every day. We would go on picnics in the hills and spend the whole night there. We would bring some musicians and instruments with us, and we would dance all night. I would get my motorcycle and drive to the desert at midnight. We had a joyful life, but that was for five years.

Mahjabin Hanafi, civil activist | Herat At one point, I had 6,000 students. Because there were not many schools, girls from far villages were coming to the center of the district to study. There were 50 students in one room.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Mohammad Shah, construction worker | Balkh I had many photos I kept as memories, but when the fighting started in our village, we left everything behind. We came to Mazar-e-Sharif, where we started doing manual labor, and we bought these tents with the money we earned. I work as a laborer in construction fields, and I make $4 a day, but I can find work only two or three times a week. The rest of the time, I come back home empty-handed, while my family waits for food.

Nahid Hamedi, business owner | Kabul I am the only woman who has a gem business in the country. It is a struggle, because everybody is against me. Some people just want to see me without my head scarf to make a big deal out of it, but in many years, no one has seen me like that. I have to be someone else to work in Afghanistan. I have to dress up like a man, behave like a man, cut my hair like a man to work in Afghanistan. I wish one day I could work in Afghanistan without being someone else.

2008-2013 Damon Winter/The New York Times Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid, Afghanistan’s security forces, economy and government struggled to find footing. Adam Ferguson for The New York Times The Taliban fought for control throughout the south and east. The government was unable to provide basic services to many parts of the country and was widely viewed as corrupt. Lynsey Addario for The New York Times In 2010, there were more than 100,000 American troops in the country. Michael Kamber for The New York Times The growing number of civilian casualties caused by the coalition started to turn Afghan public opinion against the occupation.

The Height of the War

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Raghunath Ashna, doctor | Kandahar It would be better if Americans had never come here. Fewer people would have died. This war is not Afghanistan’s war; it is the war of the world, but they are fighting it in Afghanistan.

Agha Mohammad, farmer | Balkh These foreign forces did not bring us stability; they brought us more problems. Hundreds of Afghans are dying every week. There are many orphans and widows who lost their fathers and husbands in the war. I am angry that I have to go to burial ceremonies every day. If these foreign forces were honest, couldn’t they beat these limited number of Taliban together with Afghan government? They could. If they can’t eliminate the Taliban, they should reconcile with them.

Hamdullah Hemat, high school student | Ghazni I think it is good that Americans are in Afghanistan, and I want them to stay. If they left, the whole country will be controlled by the Taliban, and we don’t want them back.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Mohammad Reyaz, former soldier | Nangarhar I am afraid of only God. I am not afraid of these other elements. I was already on the verge of getting killed once, and I have lost my two legs. But God rescued me, so I don’t care. I will go anywhere I want to go.

Ahmad Mirwais, polio vaccine health worker | Kandahar The Americans came to our country under the banner of democracy. Now they argue that their mission failed because our society is a religious one. Despite Americans saying that they were investing billions of dollars into our country every year, the rate of poverty has increased, as has the unemployment rate. Corruption has also increased. People in the villages are not able to find food every day. So when you see all this happening in the presence of Americans, you can understand that they are not here to bring democracy or a better life for Afghanistan people.

Mohammad Kabir Ahmadi, former commando | Bamiyan American forces brought freedom to us; if they were not here, who would have freed us from the Taliban? The Americans have everything; they are like an international police force. But how were they not able to bring stability to Afghanistan yet?

Asefa Shahidi | Badakhshan The Americans’ presence hasn’t changed our life at all. We were poor before they arrived, and we are poor now. I don’t even know why they are here.

Mohammad Nasir Rahyab, professor | Herat After the invasion, I was traveling on public transportation, and people were telling one another: “Now that the United States is here, we are going to live better lives. They will buy us cars and houses.” When I got out of the car, I paid the driver 20 afghanis and told him: “The Americans are not here to buy you cars. You are wrong.” He said I was crazy. People were so happy, but I knew that Americans are not what they claimed to be. They played us. I was right. I wish I was wrong.

Durranay Alizai, university student | Kandahar My father was killed six years ago by Americans in Helmand Province. He was wanted and taken in for questioning, then they released him. As he was walking to his car immediately after being released, American forces opened fire on him, killing him in front of my younger brother.

2014-2016 Wakil Kohsar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The Obama administration set a timeline for withdrawing American forces and handing over security to the Afghan authorities by 2014. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times The Taliban increased their assaults on districts controlled by the government, raising concerns that without American protection, local security forces would desert their posts or be overrun.



Afghan security-force deaths surpassed 13,000. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times With fewer troops on the ground, the coalition increasingly relied on airstrikes to destroy Taliban targets and kill high-profile combatants. This led to a spike in civilian casualties. In eastern Afghanistan, fighters claiming allegiance to the Islamic State began attacking the Taliban and civilians.

2014: A Year of Transition, Before and After

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Mohammad Kalan, farmer | Panjshir I was sure the American people were not stupid enough to leave Afghanistan without winning the war. It is a game. The United States spent a huge amount of money in Afghanistan, and if they left, it would become a safe haven for terrorist groups.

Juma Khan, Ministry of Education employee | Badakhshan I was in Kunduz in 2014 when the Taliban attacked the province. I was working in admin for the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s intelligence agency. I remember two soldiers who were running out of food and equipment. Both went to fight with the Taliban, and after a few minutes, they were injured and brought back to the building, where I was. One had two legs, and one had lost one. Both were crying and screaming. I will never forget them.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Halima Qasimi, teacher | Herat 2014 was a bad year; we had a bad election, and most of the foreign troops left. The Taliban acquired more power and attacked many places. The security situation got worse day by day. The Taliban increased their attacks in Kabul. People can’t go out at night. Nowhere is safe.

Rahima Yousifi, teacher | Herat Americans left Afghanistan. Many Afghans left the country. Suicide attacks increased. I know two young girls who fled Afghanistan. On their way from Turkey to Greece, they froze to death and died.

Mohammad Reyaz, former soldier | Nangarhar Afghans were so worried about 2014. They were thinking that this year will be the end of the world, but I would always tell them that we have our God. Before the Americans invaded, we had our life, and after that, we will also have our life. It will be a bit difficult or easier, but who cares? We will live the life that God wants us to live.

Soraya Balegh, former United Nations worker | Herat I am the mother of three soldiers. When the American forces left Afghanistan, I worried about what would happen to the Afghan Army. Who would train them? I was scared that the situation would get really bad, and the exact thing happened.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Amanullah Barak, professor | Helmand In 2014, I was worried about the withdrawal of foreign forces. I thought the government would collapse, but luckily we had our army, and they fought against the Taliban. Despite their efforts, most of the places in Helmand were captured by the Taliban. I witnessed the return of the Taliban in my district, Sangin. I also see Taliban returning to Musa Qala, Kajaki and other districts.

The Taliban Resurgence

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Hamdullah Hemat, high school student | Ghazni Last year, the Taliban attacked Ghazni and destroyed everything. This year, they attacked a National Directorate of Security office and killed my best friend. Every night in Ghazni there is a fighting between the Afghan forces and the Taliban. We can’t sleep. This is an Islamic country, but whatever they do is because of power, not for the sake of Islam.

Nargis Azaryun, N.G.O. program officer | Kabul I was in Shamali, just north of Kabul, with my girlfriends, driving in a car. We stopped near a street vendor, and a man with a long beard told us that we can’t walk around like this anymore and that “they” were going to teach us a lesson. The mentality of the Taliban is slowly coming back.

Agha Mohammad, farmer | Balkh The Taliban were once very far from Balkh Province, but they’ve crept closer slowly. Now they are just outside Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh. They are here, and they are collecting taxes from people. They have warned farmers around the city to collect their harvests soon, because they are planning to attack. That’s why we are collecting our harvest in a hurry. If the fighting starts again, our harvest will burn.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Saleh Mohammad, retired army officer | Helmand Afghanistan is a country where, in one family, one brother is a member of the Taliban and the other brother is a soldier. The Taliban are also part of this society, and we need to accept that.

Durranay Alizai, university student | Kandahar The Taliban are back in my village, but it’s not entirely a bad thing. We have security. People can go out whenever they want. We have more freedom under the Taliban, compared with government-controlled areas, where there is the risk of roadside bombings, police corruption or getting stuck in the middle of a firefight. At some checkpoints, government forces are taking vehicles from people. They will not kill those traveling in the car, but they will take the car.

Agha Mohammad, farmer | Balkh The other day I was coming home from the city, and I saw a man in a rickshaw who was badly beaten. He said he went to Charbulak District to attend his cousin’s engagement party, but the Taliban detained him. They found a receipt from a private bank from his pocket and beat him badly for no reason. He said the Taliban fined him, so he was forced to sell his carpet to get the money.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Sayid Majid, bodybuilder and Kabul Bank employee | Helmand If I go to my village in Nawa District, the Taliban will kidnap and kill me, because they say we in Kabul Bank are paying the salaries of security forces.

Soraya Balegh, former United Nations worker | Herat If the Taliban want to join the government, they should accept that Afghan women are not the same as they were in 1999 or so. The country has changed, and the Taliban and the Americans can’t ignore us. If needed, Afghan women will take up arms and fight against the Taliban.

Farid Faryadi, musician | Nangarhar If there is peace and if the Taliban ban people from singing, I will start singing religious songs. But I think singing will continue forever in this country, because the soil of this country has music in it. The rivers of this country sing songs.

What Was Lost in the War

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Yassamin Azizi, business owner | Herat I was attacked by gunmen a year ago. When something bad happens to me, I think to myself: Why am I here? Why haven’t I left the country? But I have to fight; it is not just my fight. If I give up, more women will be attacked, and they will have to stay at home too.

Hamdullah Hemat, high school student | Ghazni At the beginning of the year, my best friend Hamidullah switched schools because he wanted to be in the same class as me. The other day, I was at school when the explosion took place. Hamidullah was on his way to school, and he got killed. We both wanted to be together for our entire lives, but now he isn’t here. In 10 days, I lost three people: my best friend, my uncle and my cousin. I am only 15.

Massoud Hossaini, photojournalist | Kabul War destroyed my life. I got divorced. I suffer from depression. I lost many journalist friends. Some of them were killed right in front of me. If I had not covered the war, maybe my life would not be like this.

Mohammad Kabir Ahmadi, former commando | Bamiyan Bamiyan is the safest place in Afghanistan, but I don’t have peace of mind. In our district, they have funerals for fallen soldiers every day. My nephew was a soldier, and he was killed in Helmand.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Agha Mohammad, farmer | Balkh Our graveyards are full of Afghan flags, which show the large number of soldiers dying in the ongoing fighting. There are disabled people in our village who survived the war. When I lost my leg, life got difficult. For me, having two legs again would not be less than being a king.

Mohammad Shah, construction worker | Balkh My brother was a tribal elder, but he was captured and killed by the Taliban. My other brother, a member of the Afghan Army, was killed when the Taliban attacked his outpost. My cousin, who was a businessman, was also killed by the Taliban. I have lost four other cousins. One was directly killed by the Taliban. One was blown up by a land mine. Another was killed in a Taliban mortar attack. And the other one was trapped and killed in clashes between government forces and the Taliban.

Nahid Hamedi, business owner | Kabul In 2009, my mother went to Kunduz to see my brother and my father. On the way, the Taliban killed my mother and my adopted younger brother. They shot my brother in his heart. He didn’t make it to the hospital. My mother made it to the hospital, but she didn’t survive. On that day, I lost everything: my mother, my family and my happiness.

Saleh Mohammad, retired army officer | Helmand I have lost five sons to the war. My oldest son, Mohammad Jalil, was killed in an airstrike carried out by the Americans. He went into a house that had already been bombed to retrieve the wounded. The house was bombed again, and my son was killed. My son Mohammad Tahir was killed during a military operation. My son Mohammad Amin was a driver; he was killed by an American airstrike while driving to Lashkar Gah. Another son, Mohammad Manan, was driving when the Taliban kidnapped him on the highway and killed him for no reason. My fifth son, Hayataullah, was a soldier, and he was killed in a Taliban attack on their outpost.

Chacha Goben Singh Khalisa, shopkeeper | Kabul I was rich, but now, apart from this shop, I don’t have anything. My children can’t go to school; other children harass them because they are Sikh and not Muslim. We don’t have a school for our children. But before the war, we were living a good life.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Anisa | Bamiyan My son, Nasim, was 18 when he was killed by insurgents. My brother Karim was 50 when he was killed. He left five kids behind. My other brother, Nasim, was 38 when he was killed. He left six children behind.

2018-2019 Karim Jaafar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Beginning in 2018, American and Taliban leaders repeatedly met in Doha, Qatar, to negotiate the terms of an American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times The war has killed tens of thousands of Afghan civilians, more than 100,000 Afghan and Taliban fighters, more than 2,400 Americans and more than 1,000 from other countries. Ahmad Wali Sarhadi/Associated Press Photo In September, on the verge of finalizing a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban, President Trump called off the negotiations after his bid for inviting the insurgents to Camp David for finalizing the deal fell apart.

The Possibility of Peace

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Zahir Shah, police officer | Nangarhar If there is peace, women’s rights should be protected. Across the world, women go to school, and they are doctors, because society needs them. I want my daughters to go to school. I want a bright future for my children and want to have a home. That is my hope for the future.

Saleh Mohammad, retired army officer | Helmand We should accept whatever the Taliban are asking for, so we can stop this bloodshed. If there is peace, I will go to my village, as I have not been there for 10 years.

Yassamin Azizi, business owner | Herat It’s all just a game that was designed a long time ago. People are deeply obsessed with war, and they can’t stop killing people. If there had been a peace deal, the election last month wouldn’t have happened. I think President Trump called off the peace process to make sure Ashraf Ghani was re-elected president for the next five years.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Jamila Anwari, teacher | Helmand If peace finally arrives in Afghanistan, I will have a picnic beside the Helmand River with my family. Despite living in this city, we have never had a picnic in Helmand Province.

Karim Amini, journalist | Kabul We are inside the fire, but we are trying to endure, regardless of the war and the killing. I am still doing my bachelor’s; my wife is also going to university. I am trying to have a better life, but I think I may get killed tomorrow, or I may be victim of a suicide attack the next day, or we may be forced to go back to our village. Despite all these fears, we keep going.

Khadim Hussain Karimi, writer | Kabul I am happy that President Trump stopped the peace deal from being signed. If the Taliban want to bring peace to the country, they must stop killing Afghan people, but they haven’t, so what is the point of an agreement? A bad deal between the Taliban and the U.S. government would only have made things worse.

Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Hakima, tailor | Bamiyan I don’t have hope for my children’s future. Instead I have worries. I am worried what will happen to them. I am sick; their father is disabled. I hope they will be educated. I hope they will not fight.

As of Oct. 7, 2019, there are no future peace negotiations planned. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times

Fahim Abed and Fatima Faizi are reporters in the Kabul bureau of The New York Times. Jim Huylebroek is a Belgian photojournalist, who has been based in Afghanistan since 2015. Contributing photo editor Kristen Geisler. Additional design and development by Danny DeBelius.