Five Years After US Exit, Afghan Villagers Carry Unhealed Wounds of War

Five years after the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, survivors in Logar Province say the scars of a two-decade war remain fresh. For Mohammad, a local villager, the pain is personal: he lost his entire family in an American aerial attack.

Mohammad was studying in Kabul when the bombs fell on his family home in 2011. He returned to find his father, mother, three sisters, and a brother — all students at the time — had been killed in their sleep. The house was reduced to rubble.

"When I just came back, I was very worried. I kept asking myself: who had died? I didn't expect that all my family members had already gone," he said, his head bowed in grief. He has no photographs or mementos of his loved ones.

His neighbor, Abdul Bari, confirmed the tragedy, calling the victims innocent civilians who belonged to no organization or group. Bari described a climate of fear during the US presence, with locals afraid to leave their homes even during the day for fear of harassment or raids.

The destruction extended beyond lives to property. Mohammad's family belongings were annihilated, and he had to borrow money to rebuild. He says the US military never apologized or offered compensation.

"The two decades of US presence in Afghanistan only brought harm," Mohammad said. "They never apologized, and they never paid us anything."

Since 2023, the interim Afghan government has designated August 31 as "Departure Day," a somber reminder of the conflict's human toll. For survivors like Mohammad, the memories remain inescapable.

"Even when I wake up in the middle of the night, I can't forget," he said.