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Afghanistan: Aftermaths
By ADAM FERGUSON
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
A former Afghan National Army soldier sits at an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) center in Kabul, where he receives physiotherapy and prosthetic treatment, on June 12, 2010. Doctors amputated both his legs above the knees after he was wounded by a roadside bomb.
KANDAHAR — We often read about acts of war and engage with the drama of immediate events. But our attention moves on, and lost to our perceptions of war are the daily struggles and successes of people whose lives continue beyond the tragedy.
This series of portraits explores the aftermath of war: a boy with shrapnel wounds in his cheek from a suicide bombing, a fruit seller made paraplegic by a bullet fired from an American convoy, a farmer who caught the wrath of a Taliban bomb intended for soldiers.
As Afghanistan’s most recent war winds on into its 10th year, such stories multiply. And the Afghans who got too close carry on.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times 
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times 
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times 
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times 
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times 
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
Af-Pak, Visual Diary, afghan, afghanistan, Violence & Safety, Visual Diary
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7 Readers' Comments
Post a Comment »
1.
Fatima Batool
Pakistan
September 29th, 2010
1:29 pm
Land mines , roadside bombs , drone attacks I just dont understand why cant the apposing forces just have a single and final face off and stop hiding behind innocent civilians.Gorilla warfare or modern warfare...... its costing too many lives as collateral damage. reading these stories is heart wrenching.This fire is spreading to other countries and now the situation in Pakistan is as bad as it is in Iraq and afghanistan.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
2.
Mr Davidson
Pittsburgh Pa
September 29th, 2010
5:07 pm
It's the killing of human bodies to achieve a goal,it stems from the primal territorial but in a modern context utilizes monetary profit as incentive. If the US military would stop the killing of human bodies multibillion dollar corporations which control our government would become instantly penniless or bankrupt. The monolithic powerful oil corporations which move the war machines that kill people around the world would go instantly bankrupt.the problem is that we need a source of human bodies to continue killing,and a manufactured conflict ,at any cost ,usually to the US treasury.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
3.
Permyakov P.A.
Vladivostok, Russia
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
Grim. And most depressing part in it is that all this mess will continue long after the last NATO soldier will be withdrawn. Unexploded avia-bombs and mortar shells, undismounted land mines, uncleared IEDs...Common heredity of every war.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
4.
RC
Pompano Beach FL
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
These examples represent just one grain of sand... from countless beaches... of countless innocent victims... throughout time immerorial.
Civilized humanity. Get it at your local slaughterhouse today. It's free... and provided by your philanthropic leaders... for the general good of all... who will ensure that the tradition thrives.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
5.
vineycb1a
Delhi, India
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
People People in these photographs must be equally angry with Allah, Islam and the US. The showdown between the Islamists on the one hand and the US-led coalition on the other has meant enormous suffering to individuals who have been caught up in the crossfire. It is sad to read from an earlier letter that the situation in Pakistan is as bad as it used to be in Iraq and Afghanistan. The situation in Iraq is not much to write home about. And about Afghanistan the less said the better. In Afghanistan there is not even a semblance of a government. Mr Karzai commands no one's allegiance. And the West cannot think of anyone to take his place: there isn't anyone else. This is the result of 'managing' elections. There is no doubt that the situation in Afghanistan shall get much worse before it starts getting better. It is difficult to see a way out of the Afghan impasse. At the same time, there is no way of ducking the challenge that Islamists of various hues and shades have thrown to all other civilizations. One hates to think that this may indeed be the so-called clash of civilizations, or the clash of fundamentalisms, or perhaps the clash of obscurantisms, where it is difficult to distinguish between the kettle and the pot. In a situation like this an honest intellectual approach to matters is the first casulty: no one listens to anyone else. Be it Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, no one listens to the common man and no one even considers him. V. C. Bhutani, vineycb1@vsnl.com, Delhi, India, Sep 30 2010, 0715 IST
By ADAM FERGUSON
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times A former Afghan National Army soldier sits at an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) center in Kabul, where he receives physiotherapy and prosthetic treatment, on June 12, 2010. Doctors amputated both his legs above the knees after he was wounded by a roadside bomb.
KANDAHAR — We often read about acts of war and engage with the drama of immediate events. But our attention moves on, and lost to our perceptions of war are the daily struggles and successes of people whose lives continue beyond the tragedy.
This series of portraits explores the aftermath of war: a boy with shrapnel wounds in his cheek from a suicide bombing, a fruit seller made paraplegic by a bullet fired from an American convoy, a farmer who caught the wrath of a Taliban bomb intended for soldiers.
As Afghanistan’s most recent war winds on into its 10th year, such stories multiply. And the Afghans who got too close carry on.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Wahida, a 40-year-old mother of six, stands for a portrait at her brother’s house in Afghanistan on June 7, 2010. She, her husband and one of her sons were traveling in a vehicle near a military convoy on Jalalabad Road in Kabul in 2004 when the convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb.
“I heard a big explosion, and then I don’t remember anything,” she recalled. “I woke up and I had lost my arms, my husband, and my son had lost an eye”. Wahida is now a double amputee above the elbows and has severe facial scarring from the explosion. She lives in a tent at her brother’s house and is supported by an allowance from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“I heard a big explosion, and then I don’t remember anything,” she recalled. “I woke up and I had lost my arms, my husband, and my son had lost an eye”. Wahida is now a double amputee above the elbows and has severe facial scarring from the explosion. She lives in a tent at her brother’s house and is supported by an allowance from the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times An Afghan man, wounded in what his family claims was a NATO airstrike, lies in Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan, June 25, 2010. Mirwais Hospital provides treatment to Afghans from Kandahar Province, as well as the surrounding provinces of Zabul, Oruzgan, Helmand and Nimruz. Mirwais is supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, although if patients can afford it, they go to Pakistan to receive medical treatment at private hospitals with better facilities.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Aktar Muhammad, a 25-year-old from Oruzgan Province, sits at the I.C.R.C. Orthopedic Center, where he was receiving physiotherapy and prosthetic treatment in Kabul on June 10, 2010. Mr. Muhammad, who is married with four children, was farming in a field in Oruzgan province when he set off an improvised explosive device that he believes was planted by insurgents and intended for NATO forces. His leg was amputated below the knee, and he has facial wounds from the explosion.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times A man with burn injuries from a roadside bomb lies on a table while his wounds are dressed in Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar on June 24, 2010.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Haji Gul, a 20-year-old paraplegic, stands for a portrait at his home in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 21, 2010. In 2006 he was selling fruit on the road when a shot was fired into the crowd from an American convoy, hitting him in the head and causing him to lose the use of his legs. He receives home schooling as part of an I.C.R.C. education program.
Adam Ferguson for The New York Times Hikmatullah, 8, recovers from injuries sustained in a suicide bombing that struck a wedding party in the Arghandab District of Kandahar. He was being treated in Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar on June 26, 2010. At least 39 people were killed and 70 wounded when the bombers attacked a wedding party with ties to a militia that was thought to have cooperated with United States Special Forces.
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Af-Pak, Visual Diary, afghan, afghanistan, Violence & Safety, Visual Diary
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7 Readers' Comments
Post a Comment »
- Oldest
- Newest
1.
Fatima Batool
Pakistan
September 29th, 2010
1:29 pm
Land mines , roadside bombs , drone attacks I just dont understand why cant the apposing forces just have a single and final face off and stop hiding behind innocent civilians.Gorilla warfare or modern warfare...... its costing too many lives as collateral damage. reading these stories is heart wrenching.This fire is spreading to other countries and now the situation in Pakistan is as bad as it is in Iraq and afghanistan.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
2.
Mr Davidson
Pittsburgh Pa
September 29th, 2010
5:07 pm
It's the killing of human bodies to achieve a goal,it stems from the primal territorial but in a modern context utilizes monetary profit as incentive. If the US military would stop the killing of human bodies multibillion dollar corporations which control our government would become instantly penniless or bankrupt. The monolithic powerful oil corporations which move the war machines that kill people around the world would go instantly bankrupt.the problem is that we need a source of human bodies to continue killing,and a manufactured conflict ,at any cost ,usually to the US treasury.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
3.
Permyakov P.A.
Vladivostok, Russia
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
Grim. And most depressing part in it is that all this mess will continue long after the last NATO soldier will be withdrawn. Unexploded avia-bombs and mortar shells, undismounted land mines, uncleared IEDs...Common heredity of every war.
Recommend Recommended by 1 Readers
4.
RC
Pompano Beach FL
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
These examples represent just one grain of sand... from countless beaches... of countless innocent victims... throughout time immerorial.
Civilized humanity. Get it at your local slaughterhouse today. It's free... and provided by your philanthropic leaders... for the general good of all... who will ensure that the tradition thrives.
Recommend Recommended by 2 Readers
5.
vineycb1a
Delhi, India
September 30th, 2010
1:14 am
People People in these photographs must be equally angry with Allah, Islam and the US. The showdown between the Islamists on the one hand and the US-led coalition on the other has meant enormous suffering to individuals who have been caught up in the crossfire. It is sad to read from an earlier letter that the situation in Pakistan is as bad as it used to be in Iraq and Afghanistan. The situation in Iraq is not much to write home about. And about Afghanistan the less said the better. In Afghanistan there is not even a semblance of a government. Mr Karzai commands no one's allegiance. And the West cannot think of anyone to take his place: there isn't anyone else. This is the result of 'managing' elections. There is no doubt that the situation in Afghanistan shall get much worse before it starts getting better. It is difficult to see a way out of the Afghan impasse. At the same time, there is no way of ducking the challenge that Islamists of various hues and shades have thrown to all other civilizations. One hates to think that this may indeed be the so-called clash of civilizations, or the clash of fundamentalisms, or perhaps the clash of obscurantisms, where it is difficult to distinguish between the kettle and the pot. In a situation like this an honest intellectual approach to matters is the first casulty: no one listens to anyone else. Be it Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, no one listens to the common man and no one even considers him. V. C. Bhutani, vineycb1@vsnl.com, Delhi, India, Sep 30 2010, 0715 IST