Kabul Under Taliban Attack

Early in the morning on Tuesday 13th of September, 2011 a Taliban squad overtook a building under construction in the Green Zone in the heart of Kabul, Afghanistan. From there, insurgents armed with RPG grenade launchers and machine guns opened fire on the U.S. Embassy. The fighting raged throughout the afternoon and into the next day, when special troops from mostly Afghan forces put an end to the 20-hour siege. The assault, occurring just days after the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, left seventeen civilians and six NATO soldiers injured and four police officers, four civilians, three coalition soldiers and all eleven insurgent attackers dead. It was one of the longest lasting and boldest Taliban offensives since the beginning of the occupation by U.S. forces in the country. In the face of the scheduled withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2014, this alarming wake up call demonstrates Taliban resolve to win back power in Afghanistan.

Rafael Fabrés (b.1982. Madrid.) is a photographer and filmmaker specializing in documentary storytelling. He holds a BA in Media Communication (UEM) and a Master’s Degree in Cinematography (ESCAC). Rafael´s work explores the connections between identity, displacement and belonging in his projects. After having lived in Central and Latin America for more than a decade working as a photojournalist he published his first monographic titled Cafuné in 2020. Rafael is currently working between City of Mexico and Madrid.