‘This is the Darkest Moment’: Afghans Flee a Crumbling Country

Photographers, including Jawad Jalali, take shelter as a new explosion is heard while photographing an attack in Kabul in this archival photo. Courtesy of Jawad Jalali

KABUL—The dusty city below and its snow-capped mountains whizzed by in a blur. Clutching his light blue passport, Jawad Jalali’s eyes filled with tears as the roaring engines lifted the plane higher into the sky. Leaving Afghanistan wasn’t easy for the 30-year-old photojournalist. 

“War is so ugly,” he said. “It takes everything from you. Your job, your security, your hopes, and your dreams.”