Living in fear in Kabul

Three refugee women, identity papers in their hands, shelter from a sandstorm in Kabul Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

A farmer waits for a lift at a petrol station on the Shomali plains, north of Kabul Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

This photographer with his plastic flowers barely scrapes a living. People just think of their bellies, he complains Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Afghanistan's population is very young and there are few jobs. These teenagers drive private minibuses to get by and dream of escape Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Kabul police bring a suspected arms trafficker into their chief's office. A Jean-Claude van Damme film plays on a TV in the corner Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

This young government policy advisor, here in one of Kabul's best restaurants, thinks things are going to get better in his country Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

A bodyguard of the governor of Wardak province, just south of Kabul, where security has deteriorated in recent months Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Workers at a factory making concrete walls to protect against suicide bombs work round the clock to meet booming demand Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Children play with kites high above Kabul in a sandstorm. The new main mosque – nearly completed – is just visible above the bazaars and houses Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Tribal elders listen to the new governor's speech exhorting them not to support the Taliban in Maidan Shah, Wardak province Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

This young policeman guards the boundary between Wardak and Kabul provinces - the effective limit of the Taliban's influence. For the moment Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Refugees watch police arrive to check their papers in a camp on the outskirts of Kabul. They have fled to the capital from the battle zones of the south Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian

Children play hide and seek in a recently restored park on what was once a minefield in a relatively wealthy suburb in northern Kabul Photograph: Jason Burke/Guardian