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Photos: A View Of Afghanistan As The Taliban Take Over

By Nicole Werbeck,
Virginia Lozano, Catie Dull
Published August 15, 2021 at 5:40 PM EDT
Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021.
Defense One
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Reuters
Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021.

Updated August 16, 2021 at 2:15 PM ET

Taliban fighters entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on Sunday, further tightening their grip on the country as panicked workers fled government offices and helicopters landed at the embassy.

Here is a look around Afghanistan as the Taliban took over the cities and provinces around the country.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>People climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport to depart.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: People climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport to depart.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>Taliban members are seen near Hamid Karzai International Airport as thousands of Afghans rush to flee.
Haroon Sabawoon / Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
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Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: Taliban members are seen near Hamid Karzai International Airport as thousands of Afghans rush to flee.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>Taliban fighters stand guard in front of the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Rahmat Gul / AP
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AP
Mon., Aug. 16: Taliban fighters stand guard in front of the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>People move towards the Kabul airport to leave Kabul.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: People move towards the Kabul airport to leave Kabul.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>A family sits along the tarmac as they wait to leave the Kabul airport. Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: A family sits along the tarmac as they wait to leave the Kabul airport. Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>A US soldier points his gun towards an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: A US soldier points his gun towards an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hold a video conference with the national security team to discuss Afghanistan.
The White House / Getty Images
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Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hold a video conference with the national security team to discuss Afghanistan.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>Afghan families wait by the luggage conveyor belt while waiting to leave at the Kabul airport.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images
Mon., Aug. 16: Afghan families wait by the luggage conveyor belt while waiting to leave at the Kabul airport.
<strong>Mon., Aug. 16: </strong>Arif Oryakhail embraces head office Giovanni Grandi after they disembarked from the Afghani capital with a group of Italian diplomats and civilians at Rome's Fiumicino international airport.
Riccardo De Luca / AP
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AP
Mon., Aug. 16: Arif Oryakhail embraces head office Giovanni Grandi after they disembarked from the Afghani capital with a group of Italian diplomats and civilians at Rome's Fiumicino international airport.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul.
Zabi Karimi / AP
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AP
Sun., Aug. 15: Taliban fighters take control of Afghan presidential palace after the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Rahmat Gul / AP
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AP
Sun., Aug. 15: A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies near the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar, southwest Afghanistan.
Sidiqullah Khan / AP
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AP
Sun., Aug. 15: Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar, southwest Afghanistan.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15</strong>: Taliban fighters raise their flag at the Ghazni provincial governor's house, in Ghazni, southeastern, Afghanistan.
Gulabuddin Amiri / AP
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AP
Sun., Aug. 15: Taliban fighters raise their flag at the Ghazni provincial governor's house, in Ghazni, southeastern, Afghanistan.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15</strong>: Taliban fighters sit on a vehicle along the street in Jalalabad province on August 15, 2021.
/ AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: Taliban fighters sit on a vehicle along the street in Jalalabad province on August 15, 2021.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> Taliban fighters sit over a vehicle on a street in Laghman province.
/ AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: Taliban fighters sit over a vehicle on a street in Laghman province.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> Afghan people line up outside AZIZI Bank to take out cash as the Bank suffers amid money crises in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 15, 2021.
/ Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: Afghan people line up outside AZIZI Bank to take out cash as the Bank suffers amid money crises in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 15, 2021.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> An Afghan family carrying belongings on their way to flee Kabul city, Afghanistan, on August 15, 2021.
/ Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
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Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: An Afghan family carrying belongings on their way to flee Kabul city, Afghanistan, on August 15, 2021.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> A Pakistani soldier stands guard as stranded Afghan nationals return to Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
/ AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: A Pakistani soldier stands guard as stranded Afghan nationals return to Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
<strong>Sun., Aug. 15:</strong> Pakistani soldiers check the documents of stranded Afghan nationals wanting to return to Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
/ AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Sun., Aug. 15: Pakistani soldiers check the documents of stranded Afghan nationals wanting to return to Afghanistan at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> Afghan policemen stand guard at a checkpoint along the road in Kabul.
Wakil Kohsar / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Sat., Aug. 14: Afghan policemen stand guard at a checkpoint along the road in Kabul.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> Taliban fighters pose on the back of a vehicle in the city of Herat, west of Kabul.
Hamed Sarfarazi / AP
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AP
Sat., Aug. 14: Taliban fighters pose on the back of a vehicle in the city of Herat, west of Kabul.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> Afghans wait in long lines for hours at the passport office as many are desperate to have their travel documents ready to go on in Kabul.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
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Getty Images
Sat., Aug. 14: Afghans wait in long lines for hours at the passport office as many are desperate to have their travel documents ready to go on in Kabul.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> Passengers walk to the departures terminal of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
Rahmat Gul / AP
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AP
Sat., Aug. 14: Passengers walk to the departures terminal of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> A Taliban fighter looks on as he stands at the city of Ghazni.
/ Reuters
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Reuters
Sat., Aug. 14: A Taliban fighter looks on as he stands at the city of Ghazni.
<strong>Sat., Aug. 14:</strong> A small group of Afghans eat their meal quietly outside of their vehicle which they also use to live in temporarily, in the corner of a parking area near the makeshift camps at Shahr-e-Naw Park in Kabul.
Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Sat., Aug. 14: A small group of Afghans eat their meal quietly outside of their vehicle which they also use to live in temporarily, in the corner of a parking area near the makeshift camps at Shahr-e-Naw Park in Kabul.
<strong>Fri., Aug. 13:</strong> Pakistani soldiers, right, check stranded Afghan nationals at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
/ AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
Fri., Aug. 13: Pakistani soldiers, right, check stranded Afghan nationals at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border crossing point in Chaman.
<strong>Fri., Aug. 13:</strong> Displaced Afghan women and children from Kunduz pray at a mosque that is sheltering them.
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
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Getty Images
Fri., Aug. 13: Displaced Afghan women and children from Kunduz pray at a mosque that is sheltering them.
<strong>Fri., Aug. 13:</strong> Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their home due to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, take refuge in a public park Kabul.
Rahmat Gul / AP
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AP
Fri., Aug. 13: Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their home due to fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel, take refuge in a public park Kabul.
<strong>Fri., Aug. 13:</strong> Taliban fighters stand guard over surrendered Afghan security members forces in the city of Ghazni.
Gulabuddin Amiri / AP
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AP
Fri., Aug. 13: Taliban fighters stand guard over surrendered Afghan security members forces in the city of Ghazni.
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Nicole Werbeck
See stories by Nicole Werbeck
Virginia Lozano
Catie Dull
Catie Dull (she/her) is a short-form video producer and photojournalist on the NPR visuals team. She is from Wilmington, North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA in Photo and Video Journalism.
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