Taliban fighters in Baghlan, Afghanistan

Taliban fighters in the district of Dahani Ghori in the northern province of Baghlan Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

The fighters walk through a landscape of fields, criss-crossed with irrigation canals Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

The fighters are a mix of Afghan ethnicities - Uzbek, Hazara, Tajik and Pashtun Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

The Taliban fighters say that at least two among them live most of the year in the UK Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

Taliban stand in front of a compound-style house in Dhani-Ghorri Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

Men carry guns. 'Students from the madrassa here and from Pakistan came to work in jihad and help us' Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

'If they surrender we take their weapons and release them', say the Taliban fighters. 'If they fight back then we kill them' Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

'These people are my friends and family and it is my duty to come and fight the jihad with them', says one Taliban fighter from the UK who joins the unit for several months a year Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

'There are many people like me in London', says one of the Taliban unit. 'We collect money for the jihad all year and come and fight if we can' Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

The fighting season was coming to a close, said the Taliban fighters Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian

A boy looks on as a Taliban fighter leaves, carrying his weapons Photograph: Ghaith Abdul Ahad for the Guardian