On the Road to Kunduz: Follow an FP Contributor’s Journey on Instagram

Last Monday, Afghanistan woke to the news that Kunduz, the capital of the once blue-ribbon province of international development and security efforts, had come under attack and fallen under the control of Taliban insurgents.

Kunduz is the first provincial capital to fall since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. It represents the single biggest military defeat, certainly of the year-old Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah coalition government, and perhaps of the entire 14 years of post-2001 Afghanistan. However the defeat isn’t only significant militarily speaking. The Taliban’s coup in Kunduz, even if only short-lived, comes at a time of massive dissatisfaction toward the fledgling government, dire job prospects and waning foreign aid.

Adding to the tense political situation in Kabul is fallout from air strikes on the MSF Kunduz Trauma Center, last weekend. Twenty-two people were killed, including 12 MSF staff and three children patients. Scores more were seriously injured. The circumstances surrounding the strike remain unclear, with all parties, including the Pentagon shirking full responsibility. Meanwhile, MSF is claiming that the attack constitutes a war crime and has withdrawn all of its staff from Kunduz.

On assignment for Foreign Policy to report on the MSF hospital attack, Kabul-based photographer and regular FP contributor Andrew Quilty will be documenting his journey to Kunduz on FP’s Instagram account.

See his first three posts below, and follow along @foreignpolicymag for more.

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Mazar-i-Sharif, Nothern Afghanistan – @andrewquilty for @foreignpolicymag. A Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier wait for helicopters from neighbouring provinces in the north to remove the bodies of soldiers killed in action. Since the Taliban overran Kunduz City, to the east, Monday last week, fierce fighting has consumed the city as Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) claw their way back into the provincial capital. Simultaneously, however, the Taliban has mounted serious offensives in other parts of the north, from Badakhshan in the north east to Faryab in the north west. Photo: Andrew Quilty / Oculi for Foreign Policy. October 7, 2015. #kunduz #afghanistan

A post shared by Foreign Policy Magazine (@foreignpolicymag) on Oct 6, 2015 at 9:20pm PDT

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Kunduz, Nothern Afghanistan – An Afghan Air Force helicopter flies across western Kunduz province with close to a tonne of red apples. With Taliban presence and activity in the province as strong as ever, access from neighbouring provinces by road is severely limited, making supply delivery by air more viable, however, it also puts strain on the Air Force which has limited capacity at the best of times. Also in the chopper were caskets draped with dark green velvet cloth carrying the bodies of two soldiers killed in action. Photo: Andrew Quilty / Oculi for Foreign Policy. October 7, 2015. #kunduz #afghanistan

A post shared by Foreign Policy Magazine (@foreignpolicymag) on Oct 7, 2015 at 3:45am PDT

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Kunduz, Afghanistan — Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) continued in their efforts to push remnant pockets of Taliban insurgents from Kunduz City today. Fighting was still heavy in parts of the south of the city this afternoon while between there and the airport—where many had sought sanctuary from the Taliban uprising early last week—beside a small, blue mosque perched on top of the raised plateau that slices between fertile valleys on either side, rockets were fired at an indistinguishable target across the Kunduz River, in Chahardara District. Photo: @andrewquilty / Oculi for @foreignpolicymag. #Kunduz #Afghanistan

A post shared by Foreign Policy Magazine (@foreignpolicymag) on Oct 7, 2015 at 6:47am PDT