On August 15th, 2021, the Taliban took control of Kabul and won the war in Afghanistan. This is a view from inside the collapse of America’s longest war, and the complicated reality of Taliban governance- where the guns have fallen mostly silent, but Afghan women have seen their hard won rights evaporate.

Taliban units enter Kabul’s western gate at Kut-i-Sangi on the day of the fall.

Evacuation of the US embassy, August 15, 2021.

Inqayad patrols above the Sakhi Shrine.

Wazir Nazary, 40, shot in the face by Taliban assailants.

Desperate Afghans gather at the “Hollywood Gate” at Hamid Karzai International Airport in hopes of evacuation.

Father and child, finally inside HKIA and on their way out.

Victim of the Abbey Gate attack, Emergency Hospital.

Taliban fighters celebrate their victory on the morning of the final US pullout.

Mother and daughter, beauty shop, Shari-i-Naw.

Taliban fighters relax at Qargha lake.

Women protest the destruction of their rights, Kabul.

Evening prayer, amusement park.

School girls at recess.

Boys study at a madrassa in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province.

Taliban judge Abdul Sattar hears a case in his court room, Musa Qala, Helmand province.

Bibi Shafia pleads her case in sharia court, and wins. Musa Qala.

Taliban fighter Hamkar rests by a pond, Helmand.

Blast walls from a former US base.

Tarana singer Usman, Bagrami district.

Women’s advocate Ogai Amil, Kabul.

The Ahmadi sisters, banned from studying in high school, work on their English homework, Dasht-i-Barchi.

Commander Mazloom, blinded in the war, still leads a Taliban unit, Panjwai, Kandahar.

Women walk the main street in Musa Qala.

Omid tries to communicate to his deaf and mute mother Gul Lalai, who lost her husband and son to US Special Forces and their proxies, Wardak.

Taliban commander Mawlawi Rafiullah, 27, looks over decommissioned Taliban IED’s in Salawat, Kandahar.

Women pray in the street for fear of earthquakes, Herat.

Villagers at the dedication of a new mosque in Laghar, Nerkh district.

Taliban fighter Zahed holds his 18 month old sister, Chak district.

A Taliban pickup passes a drone memorial, Wardak.