‘IT REALLY FELT LIKE A SHOW OF FORCE’
On March 13, weeks after the U.S. and the Taliban
signed a peace agreement, Kabul-based photographer
Jim Huylebroek and colleagues took advantage of the
lull in fighting to visit insurgents in the eastern Laghman
province. On the way, their vehicle was stopped by an
elite Taliban Red Unit. “They welcomed us in a friendly
way, but things felt a bit tense,” he says. As the journalistsprepared to proceed, two children walked up the road and
past the fighters. “For me,” says Huylebroek, “it shows the
harsh reality in which children grow u p .”PHOTOGRAPH BY JIM HUYLEBROEK—THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX