The ceiling is now on the ground. To the victims, the purpose of the Taliban's summer offensive was obvious. Taliban leaders say that their campaign was to save a populace living in constant danger because Commander Massoud's forces, the so-called United Front, used the towns to launch attacks. There are estimated to be 130,000 refugees in all, the largest concentration in the Panjshir valley. With fighting still going on, the extent of the death and destruction is impossible to measure.
Individual accounts are, however, supported by the uniformity of their particulars.
There had been a hard knocking on their door. His father nervously walked to the gate. Men outside fired Kalashnikovs. With his father dead, he ran inside as fast as he could. Shakar Gul sat on a rock with her arms around her nephew Gules Tan, 3.