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Four Tumultuous Decades in Afghanistan

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Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Hindu Kush Mountains, Logar Province. Afghanistan. 1984. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Pakistan. Peshawar. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Hazara Schoolchildren. Afghanistan. Bamiyan. 2007. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Kabul. 1992. A portrait photographer with his camera. Afghanistan. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Camel Caravan. Afghan/ Pakistan Border. Afghanistan. 1981. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Afghanistan. Nuristan. 1979. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Maimana, Faryab Province. Afghanistan. 1992. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Hazrat Ali Mosque. Mazar i Sharif. 2002. Afghanistan. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry A widow asks for alms at the Grand Ayatollah Mir Ali Ahmad Hojjat Mosque. Afghanistan. Kabul. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Coal Miner smoking a cigarette. Pul i Khumri. Afghanistan. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Women shoppers dressed in the traditional burqa. Afghanistan. Kabul. 1992. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry | -scaled.jpg Father and daughter at home with folk art on the wall. Nuristan. Kamdesh. Afghanistan. 1992. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Kabul. 2008. International Committee of the Red Cross. Seven year old landmine victim trying his two prosthetic legs for the first time. The ICRC was established in Kabul in 1987. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Kushimond district, West Paktika. May, 2009. Arrest by US soldiers of Muhammad Anwar, nephew of suspected bomb facilitator Naray Mailehle. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Kabul. 2010. Village elder and daughter over canal construction with US military Black Knight Troop in Kunar Valley. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Prosthetics Center. International Committee of the Red Cross. Kabul. 2011. Landmine victims. Eight hundred thousand persons have been wounded and 400,000 killed by some of the ten mill (...)
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Charahi Qambar Refugee Camp, Kabul. 2011. Ten year old Gul Juma, a Pashtun who lost her arm as well as two sisters and another relative during the ISAF bombing of her home in Helmand P (...)
Larry Towell Spread from the book Afghanistan by Larry Towell © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Kabul. 2009. Bicycle repairmen, pedestrians and pigeons. Old Market area. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Murad Khani, Kabul. 2008. Street scene. Old City of Kabul. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Mazar-e-Sharif. 2009. Beggar. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Larry Towell Afghanistan. Kushimond district, West Paktika. May, 2009. Arrest by US soldiers of Sadar Mailehle with his son Muhammad Anwar. Sadar is the brother of suspected bomb facilitator Naray Mailehle. © Larry Towell | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kandahar. March 2005. A boy covers his eyes during a sandstorm in the southern city of Kandahar. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Marja. February 25, 2010. Afghan National Army soldier in Marja, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Marja, Helmand Province. March 2010. Marja's new district chief Hagi Zahir (far left top) meets with local elders in Marja's district center. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kunar Province. March 2010. Afghan soldiers carry a wounded comrade into an American medevac helicopter after a Taliban ambush near the village of Tsunek, Kunar Province. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Golbahar. November 2001. Northern Alliance reinforcements arrive in the village of Golbahar north of Kabul to prepare for the final push to Kabul to retake the Afghan capital from the (...)
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Khost Province. June 2005. Afghan National Army position overlooking the border with Pakistan in Khost Province, Afghanistan. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kabul. November 2010. Afghan children living in an abandoned school now occupied by several homeless families in Kabul. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kabul. 2005. Street children fight for their turf at a garbage dump on the outskirts. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kabul. 15/06/2007. Afghan children near the tomb of King Mohammad Nadir Shah. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kandahar. August 4, 2008. Afghan boys swimm in an irrigation canal on the outskirts of Kandahar. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Moises Saman Afghanistan. Kabul. February 13, 2010. A prosthetics doctor working for the Red Cross examines the stump of a child at a facility. © Moises Saman | Magnum Photos
Peter van Agtmael Marines rush towards a ditch under fire during a large firefight on a foot patrol south of Mian Poshtay. Minutes before, a local farmer had warned the Marines that there were Taliban hidden in the (...)
Peter van Agtmael | NYC82002 Afghanistan. Jalalabad. 2007. Lieutenant Erik Malmstrom turns away from photographs of three of his soldiers killed in a Taliban ambush in the Waigul Valley on August 11, 2006. By the end of the de (...)
Peter van Agtmael USA. North Ogden, Utah. 2019. Jennie Taylor measures a tombstone for the grave of her husband, Brent. She wasn’t home when the casualty notification team arrived at her door and received a cell pho (...)
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Nuristan. 2007. View of the outpost of Aranas, an isolated American outpost near the Pakistan border. Most of the garrison was wiped out in an ambush several months later. © Peter van Agtmael | Magnum Photos
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Waigul Valley, Nuristan. 2007. A U.S. Blackhawk helicopter lands at the Ranch House, a small American outpost deep in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. There were no decent roads a (...)
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Eastern Afghanistan. 2007. This Afghan soldier was badly injured by an IED. He awoke during the medevac flight, disoriented and terrified. He pitched his head back and shrieked, “Allah (...)
Peter van Agtmael USA. Torrance, California. 2007. Simone Ferrara before her brother Matthew's funeral. Lieutenant Matthew Ferrera was killed by insurgents while commanding a platoon in the remote Waigul Valley on t (...)
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Mian Poshteh, Helmand. 2009. A few minutes earlier, Marines on patrol had noticed some suspicious activity. A motorcycle had driven by slowly, the driver staring at them intently. From (...)
Peter van Agtmael Marines rush towards a ditch under fire during a large firefight on a foot patrol south of Mian Poshtay. Minutes before, a local farmer had warned the Marines that there were Taliban hidden in the (...)
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Mian Poshteh, Helmand. 2009. Marines debrief after a patrol. Their patrols were accompanied by an Afghan translator. The Afghan, who gave his name as “Rocky,” was a contractor who had (...)
Peter van Agtmael Afghanistan. Mian Poshteh, Helmand. 2009. The Marine on the left, Corporal Matt Kaiser, had nearly been killed by an IED earlier that day. He was sweeping the road with a mine detector when the dir (...)
Peter van Agtmael USA. Glen, Mississippi. 2010. Rosie Ricketts wakes up her son Aiden before the viewing of her husband Seth, killed in Afghanistan the previous week. The temporary coffin carrying Seth Ricketts arri (...)
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Helmand Province. June 20, 2010. U.S. marine in Griffin forward operating base, Lance Cpl. William T. Richards. Six days after this photo was made, Lance Cpl. Richards died on patrol (...)
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Helmand. June 17, 2010.

Only once per month, marines can have access to internet trough a removable satellite. They take advantage to chat with their relatives in USA the whole night. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Helmand. June 16, 2010. Griffin is a Patrol Base near Karamanda village. The marines pushed away the Taliban from the area. They make daily patrols all around and search for road side (...)
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Helmand. June 13, 2010. Griffin is a Patrol Base near Karamanda village. The marines pushed away the Taliban from the area. They make daily patrols all around and search for road side (...)
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Helmand. June 14, 2010. Suspected Taliban fighters detained by marines. Marines of PB (patrol base) Griffin conduct a complex ambush in Tukuts. During the operation 3 people were det (...)
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Kaboul. July 15, 2005.

French sappers from 19th enginneers regiment are cleaning up an area in the Shamali plain from weapons and amunition. They blow up 250 kg of unexplosed amunitions. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Baghe Ali Mardan neighbourhood was a battleground for the most violent clashes between Talibans and mujahedeen in the 90th. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Til-i-Kaimand. June 04, 2010. Women in US Marines. Marines company KILO during an operation of search and seizure in Til-i-Kaimand village. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Kabul. December 20, 2004. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Afghanistan. Kabul. December 20, 2004. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini As Friday is a holy day, many families and children spend the afternoon walking around, kite flying and riding horses on Tape Nadir Khan hill in Kabul. Afghanistan. Kabul. June 24, 2011. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Jérôme Sessini Greece. Lesvos Island. December 25, 2015.

Migrants from Syria and Afghanistan who just crossed the Aegean sea from Turkey reached the coast of Lesvos island. © Jérôme Sessini | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Dasht-e-Qala, Northeast region. In a restaurant talking about the American strikes. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kokcha River, Northeast region. A Northern Alliance soldier coming from the kalakata front lines. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Dasht-e-Qala, Northeast region. Northern Alliance troops marching. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. Pakistan prisoners captured by Northern Alliance soldiers during the attack of Kabul. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. A Northern Alliance soldier guarding Pakistan and Taliban prisoners. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. 2001. Refugees living in the ex Russian embassy compounds. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. At the stock market. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. Members of the feminist group founded by Mrs Soraya. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. The river. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Afghanistan. Kabul. Women in burka and child. 2001. © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Pakistan. 2008. The road between Chaman, the Afghan border crossing, and Quetta. a 25-year old Taliban called Dost Mohammed . © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Alex Majoli Pakistan. 2008. On the road back toward Pashtun Abad, young Taliban fighters. One of the Taliban fighters says: "You don't need an argument to hate America." © Alex Majoli | Magnum Photos
Collection T. Dworzak Afghanistan. Kandahar. 2002. Taliban portrait. © Collection T. Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan, Badakhshan, Faizabad, 20/10/2001

Girls School. Under Afghanistans ruling Taliban Militia women are not allowed to recive education. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan. Kabul. December 2001.

Old City destroyed during several waves of fighting. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan. Kunduz. November, 2001. The Northern Alliance takes the city from the Taliban. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan. Takhar province. Village of Dashti Kola. October 10th, 2001. Village at the frontline. Northern Alliance soldier and local Uzbeks from a village on the Taliban controlled side of the (...)
Thomas Dworzak Georgia, Svanetia, Mestia, 2010/9. Funeral of the first Georgian soldier, 1st LT M.Shukvani, killed in combat in Afghanistan in his home village. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan, Helmand-Nimroz Provinces. Out of US base Delaram, 2010/8. Georgian soldier on weeklong shift on a hill overlooking a small FOB, US military base and crossing between the provinces. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Afghanistan, Kabul, out of French coalition Camp Warehouse, 2010/1. Georgian troops searching for explosives in the environments of the camp and airport. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Thomas Dworzak Germany, Bavaria, 2010/2. US/NATO training base Hohenfels. After completing a two-week training Georgian troops return to Georgia to deploy to Afghanistan. A military priest blesses them before tra (...)
Thomas Dworzak Georgia, Tbilisi, 2010/4. Mother of Georgian officer blessing him when sending him off to his 1/2 year deployment to Afghanistan. © Thomas Dworzak | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Displaced families live in empty schools in overcrowded, smoky, and unsanitary conditions. 1994. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Despite the war, traditions remain strong, and a middle class engineer comes back to Kabul from Canada for his wedding. 1994. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Rebuilding market in Taloquan after bombing by Taliban forces. 1998. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. 1998. Summer herding of goats and sheep toward green pastures in the mountains. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Forces of warlord General Dostum on their way to the front against the Taliban. 1996. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Harvesting. 1996. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Charikar. Playing bushkashi. 1995. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Rocket attack victim in hospital, Kabul. 1995. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Destruction of Kabul. 1995. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Group of Taliban fighters outside Kabul. 1995. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Chris Steele-Perkins Afghanistan. Government forces move towards Kabul, only to be repelled by the Taliban. 1996. © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Kabul. Under Communist regime. 1986. Female workers of the Jangalak mechanical factory. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Near Kabul. A Mujahid of the Hezbi-Islami (Islamic party led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar) guards the road to the capital. 1992. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Kabul. Pol-e-Keshti Mosque. Friday prayer. 1992. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. City of Kabul. 1992. A Mujahideen from Ahmad Shah Massoud fights for control of the capital. A tank belonging to the faction led by General Rashid Dostom provides covering fire. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. 1992. Ahmad Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panshir," was assassinated on September 9, 2001. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Kabul. 1992. A wedding by proxy: the woman's fiancé, who migrated to Germany, is present in the photograph only. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Jauzjan-Balkh region. Town of Mazar-i-Sharif. 1986. Young pioneers salute visitors, Soviet style. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Kabul region. City of Kabul. Young pioneers celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Youth Democratic Organization with Soviet style excersises. 1986. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. City of Kabul. 2001. Sheep's heads for sale in the bazaar. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Kabul. A woman in burqah, the full islamic veil, has come to pay respect to the dead at the Shi'ite shrine of Sakhi Jan. 2001. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. City of Kabul. 2001. A militia, wielding a stick, tries to keep order among men and burqa clad women, queing for food distribution by the UN. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. City of Kabul. 2001. The bazaar among the ruins of the capital, partially destroyed by infighting among mujahedeen factions from 1992 to 1996 when the Taliban took over. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Abbas Afghanistan. Tarakhil. Classes are held in the open for lack of space in a village school donated by Japan. The ground had to be demined first. © Abbas | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Afghanistan. Nuristan. 1979. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Women shoppers dressed in the traditional burqa. Afghanistan. Kabul. 1992. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Hindu Kush Mountains, Logar Province. Afghanistan. 1984. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Father and daughter at home with folk art on the wall. Nuristan. Kamdesh. Afghanistan. 1992.
Steve McCurry Camel Caravan. Afghan/ Pakistan Border. Afghanistan. 1981. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Pakistan. Peshawar. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Maimana, Faryab Province. Afghanistan. 1992. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Kabul. 1992. A portrait photographer with his camera. Afghanistan. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Hazrat Ali Mosque. Mazar i Sharif. 2002. Afghanistan. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Hazara Schoolchildren. Afghanistan. Bamiyan. 2007. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry Coal Miner smoking a cigarette. Pul i Khumri. Afghanistan. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Steve McCurry A widow asks for alms at the Grand Ayatollah Mir Ali Ahmad Hojjat Mosque. Afghanistan. Kabul. 2002. © Steve McCurry | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Crowds going to greet the mujahedeens. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. Nuristan mountains. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Soldiers of the Afghan army, held prisoner by the mujahedeen rebels. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. Nuristan mountains. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Mujahedeen rebels. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. Nuristan mountains. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Mujahedeen rebels. On the right: Ahmed Chah Massoud. Pakistan. Peshawar. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Mujahedeen praying. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. Nuristan mountains. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Mujahedeen rebels. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon Mujahedeen rebels. Nuristan mountains. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon A mujahedeen village bombed by the Afghan army. Nuristan mountains. Afghanistan. Badakhstan. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos
Raymond Depardon A gathering of mujahedeen rebels. Afghanistan. Nuristan mountains. Badakhstan. 1978. © Raymond Depardon | Magnum Photos