Published August 19, 2021
15 min read
Photographer Kiana Hayeri has lived in Kabul for the past seven years. For National Geographic, she chronicled the changes across Afghanistan as a generation born under relative freedom faces a future under Taliban control.
Kabul is her home. But on Sunday, August 15, the day the Taliban seized Kabul and the Afghan government fell, Hayeri had to evacuate. The Iranian-Canadian journalist spoke to National Geographic about what the city was like the day it fell, how she’s trying to help Afghan friends and colleagues, and the uncertain future that women face under the Taliban.
Even though you left Kabul on the day the Taliban took over, you’re still very much involved in the events there, to the point that you had to postpone our conversation yesterday. Tell me what was going on.
There’s one family that I’m responsible for— a single mom and her two daughters—that we’re trying to get out. And yesterday the reason we had to postpone was because the mission unfortunately failed. Actually, it failed today.
Two years ago, I did a story inside Herat Women’s Prison, and that’s where I met this woman. She was released from prison after the pandemic hit. I became very close to her and her daughters; we worked on an audio book together. When the Taliban came, I knew she had to get out: She’s a single mom, and she’d been all over the media because she murdered her husband to get out of abuse and domestic violence.
We’re trying to get them to the airport. Their names are on the flight. But the airport is surrounded by thousands and thousands of people. And yesterday, we were trying to coordinate. We had somebody on the ground. We had several people in different time zones. I was acting as a translator, but also I had to keep them calm.
The three women stayed on the street all night long. Her youngest daughter was trampled. They hadn’t had any water. I think she was having heatstroke because they said she kept passing out. Today around noon, we had to make the call and ask them to go home because fighting had started. I could hear the gunshots. And I was told there were RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] shots. I just told her to go home for now.
You had planned to leave Kabul later this week but ended up evacuating on Sunday, the day the Taliban took control. What was that last day like?
We knew eventually Kabul would fall. At first everyone thought it would be in a few months, six months, then it’s three months, then it’s one month, probably in September. And then the Taliban came closer and closer. They were tightening the noose around Kabul.
On Friday evening I bought a ticket for Monday afternoon. That was the first try. We tried to get the single mom to the airport. And I was up all night. Then I got a phone call from the New York Times that there was a flight available the next morning, on Saturday morning. I decided I wasn’t ready.
On Sunday morning, I went to the airport to photograph the people leaving. Then we tried to go home. The traffic in Kabul was insane, like nothing that I’ve seen before. You couldn’t move the car. At one point we got out of the car and walked. I could feel something was off, I could feel people were tense, I could feel people were angry.
At home, the phone calls started coming. The Taliban has been spotted on Darluman Road; the Taliban has been spotted on Company Road, which is west of Kabul.
This is the part where things started moving really fast. I wanted to photograph the banks because there were hundreds of people in front of each bank trying to get money, so I got into the car again and went to the bank. I kept asking people what was going on, but no one would admit that the Taliban was coming.
Once we got away from the bank the streets were deserted—no traffic, no cars, but many, many, many people on each side of the street moving really fast.
I don’t think any camera would have ever been able to capture it even if you had the time and peace of mind to stay and shoot. It was the fear, it was a vibe, it was the air. Everyone was just really scared.
We passed a couple of famous beauty salons where people were ripping big huge photos of women off the walls.
Why were they doing that?
Initially I thought it was—you know how you give a platform to people and then they come out, like what happened in America with white supremacists? I thought that it was people who don’t like women. Then my second thought was that maybe it was a shop owner who wanted to protect their shops from damage.
When I got home, a phone call came from the New York Times: You have 15 minutes to pack. Get to the airport now. I got my hard drives and a few pieces of clothing. I forgot to take socks, that’s how quickly I packed.
Our apartment building has four armed guards who wear uniforms. When I came downstairs, I saw that all 10 apartment units were deserted, and all of our guards had changed into civilian clothes.
Where are you now?
I’m at a military base in Doha, Qatar. I’ve been here for I don’t even know how I long … four days, this is my fourth day.
What has been the hardest part?
The guilt, the enormous amount of guilt that I feel.
Why do you feel guilty?
I have a passport that means I can get out and these people cannot. That is the guilt.
Do you want to go back?
I do want to go back. We have a lovely, lovely lady who helps with the housework. The day after we left, she called me. She was in my apartment. She had gone back, she’s done my laundry, she put my room back in order. And she apologized. She asked if she could take the food, because we had bought a lot of food, if she could take the food that would perish within a month. She thought I’d be back that soon. I said, No, take everything for now.
Is she in danger?
She’s a single mom as well. She’s been working with foreigners for almost 20 years. And she’s also a member of a minority religious group. We’re trying to get her out.
Back when the Taliban was in control in the ’90s, as a woman you always needed to have a man with you. And you weren’t allowed to work. So who’s going to work if you’re a single mom with two daughters?
But we don’t know how it will be. What’s interesting is talking to people across Afghanistan, the Taliban impose different rules in different regions. In Shibirghan City I learned that if women put a burka on, they’re allowed to go on the street without a man. Whereas in Herat, women wear the Iranian chador, black from head to toe, and they have to have a man with them. And in Kabul right now, women’s hijabs are slightly tighter, but they can go out on the streets without a man, and they show their faces.
Is there a disconnect between what the Taliban is saying and what they’re doing, or what people think they’re likely to do?
There are several disconnects: the disconnect between what Taliban is saying they’re doing and what’s happening on the ground, and there’s a disconnect between what’s being reported and what’s actually happening on the ground. I’m not defending the Taliban or anything, but I do see they’ve changed a little bit—at least at this point—in their behavior toward women. But that might change any day.
More than 75 percent of the population is under the age of 25, with no memory of Taliban rule. Is there a chance these young people will push against it?
No, leading up to this there has been a lot of poverty, there has been war. When you’re so desperate, when you’re in survival mode day to day, you’ll submit.
We’re talking about negative things, the violence, the poverty, the fear. But what did you love about living in Kabul?
What Kabul does to you, what Afghanistan does to you, is it strips you down to the basics, stripping away many choices and options. At the supermarket, you have two shampoos to choose from. That’s it. Fruits and vegetables are seasonal. You’re stuck with that, right? But it’s also true for your emotions. The emotions that you experience there are so raw and so basic, and it’s beautiful. It’s something I’ve never experienced anywhere else. Even friendships are very raw, very solid, especially with Afghan friends.
How was your experience different from what Afghan evacuees are experiencing?
I’m the privileged one. I have the money to replace everything. Most of these Afghans who leave their homes behind are leaving everything they have. They have to restart with nothing. This military base is basically a refugee camp, and the Afghans in our wing don’t have anything. They don’t even have their chargers with them. It’s just them and a phone.
I’m lucky. I know I can buy a ticket and go back to Afghanistan if I want to. They won’t be able to go back. These guys don’t even have a choice about where they’ll end up. They’re going to be processed at some point and told you’re going to this place.
What is your impression of how the evacuees are doing?
Almost the very first thing that comes out is the people they left behind. Right now, they’re just trying to do damage control. I need to get this person out; I need to get that person out.
It’s very hot here, but after the sun sets you see children outside playing. In the female bathrooms it’s quite a scene. The women are washing themselves. They’re washing the kids. They’re washing the clothes. There are 1,500 people in the camp now.
Where do you go next?
We’re bringing all of our colleagues and their families, 127 of them, arriving soon. I was given the option of moving on to wherever I want to go. But I speak Farsi, and these guys have been through a lot. I think it helps to have a female Farsi speaker for the families. So I’m going to go wherever they go until they settle down.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.