Globe and Mail photographer Goran Tomasevic has been documenting life in Afghanistan since 2007, when he first visited the country. NATO forces expanded their peacekeeping operations at the time, as Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters sought to topple the Afghan government. Last summer, after more than 20 years of conflict, the Taliban succeeded, taking control of Kabul on August 15, 2021. A year later, Mr. Tomasevic returned to Afghanistan and spent 11 days in the capital. In some ways, he found it unchanged – the residents were friendly and welcoming in Mandawi Bazaar in the center of town, and the market stalls were full. Compared to his previous visits, the streets seemed cleaner and less chaotic. In other ways, life was noticeably different. “The Taliban are everywhere in Kabul,” he says. All hilltops are guarded. “Their checkpoints are everywhere,” he says, though he adds that in the past, under the previous NATO-backed regime, police stopped him and sometimes demanded bribes. On this visit, Taliban representatives usually left him alone. Taking control of the Taliban has changed the lives of Afghans in significant ways. A U.N. report released in July highlighted the erosion of women’s rights over the past year: Girls are no longer allowed to pursue education beyond the 6th grade, the report notes, and women’s participation in the workplace and other aspects of daily life has been limited and in many cases removed. The UN mission in Afghanistan also says Taliban authorities are cracking down on protests, restricting media freedoms and prosecuting people associated with the former government and its security forces. The July report confirmed 160 extrajudicial killings, 178 arbitrary arrests and detentions, and 56 cases of torture. Poverty is also deepening. Human Rights Watch estimates that 90 percent of households in Afghanistan do not have enough food, and acute malnutrition is a serious problem. About 24 million people are in need of vital humanitarian assistance, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. “Many Afghans live in poverty,” said Mr Tomasevich, who witnessed the bleak conditions in a Kabul slum and saw people desperate for food. “I must say that it was unusual for me to see men and women begging for bread in front of the bakery.” On the first day of his recent visit, Mr. Tomasevich was careful where he pointed his camera. Would people welcome a visitor representing the Western media? “Very quickly I realized that people were relaxed and friendly and most of them were smiling,” he says. When he met a Taliban fighter carrying an AK-47 in the Mandawi Bazaar, the man extended his hand in greeting and agreed to a photo. A Taliban fighter enjoys a visit to a game park at Qargha Lake, a popular recreation area outside Kabul. The park was especially busy during the Eid al-Adha holiday weekend and many Taliban were there, walking around the lake or riding horses. During Eid al-Adha, Muslims usually donate food to poor people, giving what they can to those in need. Here, women in front of an oven give bread. The begging continued after the holidays ended, although the number of women asking for help decreased. Shops in Kabul appeared fairly well stocked, although some residents said they could not afford to buy what they needed. Bakeries were open and sacks of flour, mainly imported from Uzbekistan, were available for sale in shops and markets. Imported goods such as Marlboro cigarettes, Lurpak butter from Denmark and even high-quality Russian caviar (US$13 for 100 grams) could also be found in some shops. People living in the Helmandi slum in western Kabul – one of dozens of such communities in the city – have little to eat and many scavenge in the city’s garbage for food. For this man, the day’s foraging had yielded little more than bones and moldy bread. Living conditions in the slums are miserable: Most houses are built of compacted mud covered with dirt and plastic, and few have doors or windows. According to the World Food Program, two million children in Afghanistan are malnourished. Health care is out of reach for most residents, including this girl who lay sick on the ground in Helmandi, where open sewage flows between houses. The family had no money for medicine or doctors. Aid workers do not visit the area, one local said, and families there do not receive aid. Canadian aid groups say their efforts in the country are hampered by a 2013 federal law that prohibits them from helping anyone who may have official dealings with the current Afghan government, including those who pay rent or taxes. Tolo News anchor Tahmina Usmani is getting ready to go on air. Female TV personalities in Afghanistan must cover their faces under a Taliban order. Ms. Usmani, like many women in Kabul, uses a COVID-19 mask to cover her face. School-age girls face a harsh new reality in Afghanistan: their education now ends at the 6th grade. Taliban leaders have forbidden them to continue beyond that level. For many, this means giving up career dreams and facing the prospect of marriage while still in their early teens – or even younger. Taliban checkpoints are scattered throughout the hills around Kabul. At this, the men were friendly and many wanted to take pictures with Mr. Tomasevic. Some liked that his background is Serbian, and one proudly displayed an AK-47 made in Serbia. When asked how they felt about the collapse of the government and the end of parliament and parliamentary elections, they replied: “No parliament, no corruption.” The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
