Afghanistan

This family is one of thousands forced to flee Uruzgan after the Taliban attacked the province’s capital, Tarin Kot, in September, resulting in fierce fighting with Afghan government troops. They are living with three other families in a house in Kandahar that is still under construction

Women wait to see a doctor in the obstetrics unit of Mirwais hospital in Kandahar. Afghanistan’s government is struggling to contain a resilient Taliban insurgency amid protracted wrangling among politicians in Kabul. Civilians are paying an increasingly heavy price for the conflict, with many unable to access basic healthcare.

A bullet-holed window in a male ward at Mirwais hospital. Gunmen dressed as doctors raided the building, resulting in an hour-long firefight in which one patient was killed.

Aminullah holds his three-year-old son, who is being treated for shrapnel wounds after a mine exploded near him.

Displaced children are having to find their feet in new surroundings in Kandahar after the flight from Uruzgan to escape the fighting. Local news sources report that as many as 6,000 families affected by the conflict have sought shelter in Afghanistan’s second largest city

Men wait in the hallway of Mirwais hospital to see a doctor in the outpatients unit. It is the only referral hospital in Kandahar province, and people travel for hundreds of miles to use its services.

Landmines continue to cause immense suffering. This man from Uruzgan recently lost part of his leg in an explosion.

A woman walks past a destroyed building in Kandahar. The UN warned last month of a looming humanitarian crisis in the country, with growing numbers of Afghans displaced.

Afghan army soldiers man a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kandahar. The country’s security personnel are acutely vulnerable: hundreds are being killed and injured every month, with little support being given to the families of those affected.

Jan Khan, a shop keeper, and who fled Families who have been displaced be recent fighting in Uruzgan between Afghan Government soldiers and the Taliban, pose for photographs in a house that is still being built where four families are currently living in Kandahar.

Khaliq Dad, who is 15 years old, and who lost both of his legs and badly injured his arm, after being caught in a landmine explosion in early September Darowad, Uruzgan lies in his bed in in Mirwais Hospital.

A young girl who has been displaced by recent fighting in Uruzgan carries water to the house she is living in on the outskirts of Kandahar.

Bibi holds her baby girl that she has just brought from Sangin that morning by road to be vaccinated in Mirwais Hospital. Bibi has had three children who have died and decided to come to the hospital the day after her baby was born by taxi because there is nowhere in Sangin offering vaccination.

Men wait in the hallway of Mirwais Hospital, Kandahar.

A man who has been shot through the leg is wheeled on a trolley to the male surgical ward in Mirwais Hospital.

Families who have been displaced by recent fighting in Uruzgan between Afghan Government soldiers and the Taliban, pose for photographs in a house that is still being built where four families are currently living in Kandahar.

An elderly man who has been displaced be recent fighting in Uruzgan between Afghan Government soldiers and the Taliban, poses for photographs in a house that is still being built where four families are currently living in Kandahar.

Families who have been displaced be recent fighting in Uruzgan between Afghan Government soldiers and the Taliban, pose for photographs in a house that is still being built where four families are currently living in Kandahar.