![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KJK3RXQSWPMAGZOYRTBSSZ36NM.jpg?smart=true&auth=17718e5772630b13640dfb7f29358790af5706bd2b082234ffaa25f170739e58&width=400&height=225)
Members of the Taliban stand guard outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport as people try to flee the country.
Kabul residents riding a bicycle celebrate as Northern Alliance
fighters enter the Afghan capital in November 2001 after the collapse of Taliban rule.
Fighters from the Afghan opposition Northern Alliance celebrate the
withdrawal of the Taliban in November 2001.
Northern Alliance fighters sing patriotic songs as they enter the capital Kabul in November 2001.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SYVGZTOUCKVV6E5AR5BJFX77CE.jpg?smart=true&auth=7570238eefeb73c3a8ed274617ebf8307a6dfe98cba369406f24ebba38f046d5&width=400&height=225)
A French soldier, part of the International Security and Assistance Force, stands on a boulder overlooking Kabul during a patrol in August 2002.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ETXM3FNUJ4RUIBYX33O37TYHFI.jpg?smart=true&auth=040fdd2b3de74f8915cbc409e66457b50dd33665df82d35fc616fe2e98573c05&width=400&height=225)
Joe Biden, a US senator at the time, meets a female student at Ariana High school in January 2002, during a visit to Kabul.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WFBLW57F63COKTEDBMJCQ4V7IU.jpg?smart=true&auth=577c8b73bb072405fe502d4ef79139479df54eac40d15d9c17a369458b31b9bf&width=400&height=225)
A member of the Taliban stands guard as people walk to the entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AHN4HWCU2E5VFD32GEFYIGVYYU.jpg?smart=true&auth=4faccec8aa37cea2132a7dac9bd892c55d578fd1f03b50e8185ee5d0fd78b37c&width=400&height=225)
Taliban fighters take control of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/GO5IUVR3YICPCZB5BGXOJP7IUM.jpg?smart=true&auth=aa2ea409c06d1d755c935e823b9797a9c9507889cb80bccb54e2947877988f39&width=400&height=225)
A crowd of Afghans on the tarmac of Kabul's airport as they try to flee the country in August.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/7Z6R3BILMI7NBDBAVWSBNPGKYU.jpg?smart=true&auth=f4ad41c610251b40613d924217a46344baabae995f0d1ecc7aa95155a91f5132&width=400&height=225)
Taliban fighters ride on a truck through Kabul on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KJK3RXQSWPMAGZOYRTBSSZ36NM.jpg?smart=true&auth=17718e5772630b13640dfb7f29358790af5706bd2b082234ffaa25f170739e58&width=400&height=225)
Members of the Taliban stand guard outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport as people try to flee the country.
Kabul residents riding a bicycle celebrate as Northern Alliance
fighters enter the Afghan capital in November 2001 after the collapse of Taliban rule.
Fighters from the Afghan opposition Northern Alliance celebrate the
withdrawal of the Taliban in November 2001.
Northern Alliance fighters sing patriotic songs as they enter the capital Kabul in November 2001.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/SYVGZTOUCKVV6E5AR5BJFX77CE.jpg?smart=true&auth=7570238eefeb73c3a8ed274617ebf8307a6dfe98cba369406f24ebba38f046d5&width=400&height=225)
A French soldier, part of the International Security and Assistance Force, stands on a boulder overlooking Kabul during a patrol in August 2002.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/ETXM3FNUJ4RUIBYX33O37TYHFI.jpg?smart=true&auth=040fdd2b3de74f8915cbc409e66457b50dd33665df82d35fc616fe2e98573c05&width=400&height=225)
Joe Biden, a US senator at the time, meets a female student at Ariana High school in January 2002, during a visit to Kabul.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/WFBLW57F63COKTEDBMJCQ4V7IU.jpg?smart=true&auth=577c8b73bb072405fe502d4ef79139479df54eac40d15d9c17a369458b31b9bf&width=400&height=225)
A member of the Taliban stands guard as people walk to the entrance gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/AHN4HWCU2E5VFD32GEFYIGVYYU.jpg?smart=true&auth=4faccec8aa37cea2132a7dac9bd892c55d578fd1f03b50e8185ee5d0fd78b37c&width=400&height=225)
Taliban fighters take control of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/GO5IUVR3YICPCZB5BGXOJP7IUM.jpg?smart=true&auth=aa2ea409c06d1d755c935e823b9797a9c9507889cb80bccb54e2947877988f39&width=400&height=225)
A crowd of Afghans on the tarmac of Kabul's airport as they try to flee the country in August.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/7Z6R3BILMI7NBDBAVWSBNPGKYU.jpg?smart=true&auth=f4ad41c610251b40613d924217a46344baabae995f0d1ecc7aa95155a91f5132&width=400&height=225)
Taliban fighters ride on a truck through Kabul on Sunday.
![](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/KJK3RXQSWPMAGZOYRTBSSZ36NM.jpg?smart=true&auth=17718e5772630b13640dfb7f29358790af5706bd2b082234ffaa25f170739e58&width=400&height=225)
Members of the Taliban stand guard outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport as people try to flee the country.
Afghan in UAE whose brother was killed by Taliban left horrified by their return to power
Ibrahim Mohammad Saeed, who lives in Abu Dhabi, says the militants will undo the progress Afghanistan has made in the past 20 years
![Sarwat Nasir](https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/https%3A%2F%2Fs3.amazonaws.com%2Farc-authors%2Fthenational%2F5a1721d1-b1fc-47a7-8c35-985395d5a5ae.png?smart=true&auth=59b598b8295381dbbb5492b5ef6a2ffa0d77e07c0a1086053fcdbee600f14b7f&width=70&height=70)
Sarwat Nasir
16 August, 2021
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