Zebah Gul sits with her eight children in the room at the transit centre in Herat, Afghanistan, after being arrested at the Iran-Turkey border. Photo by Charlie Faulkner
“Afghanistan is not a good place to be – there is war and the security situation is not good,” says Gul.
The family agreed to pay a smuggler $650 (£471) for each person if the crossing was successful, but their attempt was thwarted by Iranian border police. Everyone apart from Gul’s husband was arrested.
“We are devastated to have to return to Takhar. It is not safe,” says Gul.
Owning no property and with few work prospects, and facing daily conflict, the family have little to go back for, apart from a few relatives.
Their story is not unique; as Taliban fighters have swept across the country in recent weeks, civilians have been caught in the crossfire. On 21 July, the Pentagon admitted that half of all district centres are now in the hands of the Taliban, which surround 17 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals.
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