Afghanistan, Into The Forbidden Zone

Video Statistics and Information

Video

Captions Word Cloud

Captions

travel into the heart of Afghanistan where traditions are locked in time but under fire author Sebastian Junger leads the way and discovers that the perfect storm was nothing compared to the Rilla war get a rare look inside a rogue nation Afghanistan remote majestic and shrouded in the stream it's one of the most inaccessible places in the world it's a rogue state almost no one in the world recognizes it where we're going is an enclave inside of that it's a land of deadly violence this part and incomprehensible destruction for two journalists one a veteran photographer the other a best-selling writer the danger is part of the job they can only tell this story by jumping into the chaos and experiencing it all from haunting tragedies the inspiring optimism of the people who won't give up hope because finding Afghanistan's soul is the only way to figure out its future some other Sebastian Junger can walk down almost any street in America unrecognized but many people know his successful book the perfect storm and the hit movie get inspired sebastian has been fascinated with danger in harsh conditions since he was a teenager in Belmont Massachusetts I grew up in this very safe suburb and I always wondered you know am i tough enough my strong enough smart enough I'm brave enough whatever it is to survive to thrive and you know out there in the real harsh world he tested himself by covering the world's hotspots Bosnia Sierra Leone Cyprus now he wants to brave Afghanistan a country torn apart by shifting factions and disappearing governance for more than a generation the people of Afghanistan have known nothing but war they managed to beat back the Soviets in the 1980s but today the resistance faces an even tougher enemy they're under siege by the Taliban a religious militia that recently began destroying the replacable treasures and taking fundamental rights away from Afghan women it's a country governed by terror and it's as dangerous a place as Sebastian can visit but he won't be going alone National Geographic adventure magazine is teaming Sebastian with Reza a world-renowned photographer and an expert on Afghanistan's turmoil in 1990 Reza temporarily gave up his job to work in Afghan refugee camps he spent his career photographing people and places in strife razaw began using his camera to document human rights abuses when he was a teenager in Iran until the Shia security forces stepped in I remember 16 secret police stormed my home they arrested me they got all my films went negative police held and tortured him for three years but they didn't break his spirit he remains committed to exposing injustice now married with two children Reza has even more at stake just because I have my own family I cannot close my eyes to older children in Afghanistan also children in the Africa or Asia it's suffering if I can't help someone I should do it Mazhar and sebastian meet for the first time at the Munich Airport hey hi how are you their final destination Afghanistan a place where the odds between surviving and dying are often even money their goals are to meet Ahmed Shah Massoud a mythical but very real Afghan resistance leader and to get to know the people he's fighting for Massoud is a talented military strategist known as the Lion of Panjshir he and his forces are largely responsible for repelling the Soviets in the 1980s to reach him they must first travel through Tajikistan an independent republic that sits on Afghanistan's northern border at this point they have just two options they can attempt a three-month Trek over the mountains which Reza did on his last trip here or they can be smuggled in by helicopter but they can't go anywhere until the weather clears he so there's plenty of time to compare notes on Masood the us-china Reza has known Massoud for 16 years and is deeply connected to Afghanistan first I met my suit in 1985 actually my first impression was that he's a real the one of the person that century will remember or history remember what is it about him that makes you realize he's an extraordinary man he is extremely intelligent extremely honest person and I can say if he care about the humanity what Masoud leads the Northern Alliance an outgunned and outmanned army of about 15,000 resistance fighters is at war with the Taliban the Taliban emerged as a military force in the wake of the Soviet withdrawal they provided stability at a time when Afghans were eager for peace the Taliban brought peace more or less to a lot of Afghanistan it came at a terrible cost the Taliban are students who came out of their religious schools called madrasas in Pakistan they are an extremely fundamentalist repressive regime there are many Afghans who support the Taliban but they still have to draft young men to fight in the trenches the Taliban policies that have most shocked the outside world and most traumatized that the people of Afghanistan are for example women cannot walk unaccompanied in the street they need a male relative with them where they'll be whipped if it can't work they do not have access to medical care because there are no women doctors and it would be considered indecent for a woman to be examined by a male doctor in short under the Taliban women's rights are slipping away after seven days of delay the weather finally breaks we just got the word that we're going just really in today so still may not be possible but um where you have to try anyway so we're going to the airport and every times I'm always whatever shoots before I'm preparing on the foot someplace you guys did something happen today Masoud has offered to smuggle sebastian and reserve into the country but they have to go before the Sun sets literally they're rusting for years no no this is it what if it was Stan crafted if everything goes right it will take about an hour to reach the war zone but a lot could go wrong the aging helicopter will be flying over Taliban airspace and would be no match for enemy Jets it's one of the most inaccessible places in the world it's Afghanistan is middle of Central Asia it's a rogue state almost no one in the world recognizes it and where we're going is an enclave inside of that with no radar they have to clear the mountains while there's still light they'll be forced to turn back as they begin their descent there in total darkness they finally land with only the help of car headlights it's like being in an old truck except afloat my other would have a very difficult time I know that that seeing all those refugees and all the children would be very very painful for me but I see I see that it's if it's what I have to live for Sebastian in reserve there's no turning back day one Masoud local headquarters razaw begins his day just like any other with Tai Chi but Sebastian isn't as lucky are they bringing tea no how do you feel nervous I feel better the Aspen's yeah yeah it's part of the job practically I don't think I've ever done third-world about getting sick huh at breakfast Sebastian is already gathering details for his story the sort of beautiful formality of even breakfast in the morning you don't eat it out of a cereal bowl or watching TV you know there is a little ritual by mid-morning Raisa and Sebastian find their way to a makeshift refugee camp along the kuk-ja River what they're about to see won't be forgotten roughly 750,000 people have been driven from their homes in this country making Afghanistan the center of the world's worst refugee crisis the combination of drought and war has created endless misery I can't either look at this I just can't believe it this camp has no running water very little food and horrible sanitation sticks and plastic masqueraders tents hi me Joe hey Joseph she was just explaining the way that they have to come out of the land from the village how many days they have to walk with all this children and arrive here and when they arrived here they have no shelter and no food the two weeks that they arrived here she said that she did not any aid any food here so they are begging from the other refugees what's more every one has a story to tell I mean clearly shocked a guy who were an old guy and he was in it town of the Taliban took over and I told him that five weapons and he couldn't find any he was so they ban it he's got this huge scar on his stomach but he survived so this time when the Taliban came through they he split that's why is here yeah mon ostium Salman Bardem Apache lone Nicola yeah how are they burned more than 500 houses in one village that he knows about it so that's the reason that he said that we have to flee we cannot say that they will kill all of us most families left everything behind when they fled and struggle through almost a week of walking to get here one woman was seven months pregnant with twins when she made the trek she managed to make it to the camp and give birth to the babies but now there's a problem he is explaining that he has two baby that was born here in the refugee camps and a very bad condition and very cold especially and he's afraid that they will die in the cold paint on the Gothic no Vanessa penny aqus penny I can relax later Salam alaikum two twins two brothers names Hasan and Husayn the boys are just two months old what unless they're coming out but I'll deposit behind the meantime I have to control because that's why I'm here even with all his experience the conditions continue to out great resolve this situation you got so mad you don't know what to do you saw this two babies were already dying and then you go every houses they have the same cases you think I mean it's you don't know what to do you don't know how to do with them you see these poor kids running around and they're playing they do everything the kids do but they've got terrible skin diseases and they're hungry in their eyes are sort of Hollow and and you just take one look at a kid like that and you know that he's it suffered and suffered and suffered it's unmistakable look I'm just trying to bring their voice ring to the problem to the world to show to the world what's happening up these are the harder myself to people in the world living this is what the journalist a photojournalist should show to the world as dawn breaks on day two Massoud sends word that he's on his way for Reza and Sebastian shaken by the suffering they've seen this is welcome news we're on our way to meet one of the great military leaders of the century frankly I can't believe people pay us to do this it's been eight years since ROSAT and Massoud last met I will meet him in few minutes it's a great moment very good moment when they're finally close enough to see the Lion of Panjshir there's no fanfare or red carpet instead Massoud waits across the river on a single bench very exciting I've been waiting two years to meet this guy the commanders and bodyguards flanking Masood but the only sign of his importance emotional to see him just about the river at Masoud local headquarters crowds of soldiers civilians and refugees are gathering everyone in his vicinity is instantly focused on him on every movement he makes it's a very very powerful experience watching watching a man who has that kind of impact on people around it but he's got this incredible force - I miss incredible - sharpness to his face and incredible seriousness someone you would never want to disappoint and then once in a while he'll smile you don't see that in one person very often that intensity and the humor the benevolence he's just a tremendously powerful thank you gee Ahmed Shah was born into an upper middle-class family in Kabul when a king ruled the nation in 1953 the third of six sons he had wanted to become an army officer like his father that was a style a family member from early on I wanted to enter the military and become an officer but my father my parents were against the echo system they wanted me to become a doctor or an engineer oh ho sweet Abram dr. Alan janessa but that opportunity never came by the time he was in college communists were taking over Afghanistan so he dropped his studies to join a fledgling resistance movement taking the nom de guerre Masood meaning fortune Mossad has this incredible tenacity he drove the the Soviets out of Afghanistan it took him ten years to do that now he's he's locked into civil war he's virtually the last man standing and his troops are the only organized resistance against the Taliban left experts estimate Massoud forces now controlled just 15 percent of Afghanistan far as I can tell he's gonna fight and fight and fight until til he wins he's fighting not because he loves it but because he knows he has to in order to bring peace and justice to his society resign Sebastian fly with him over his planned lines of attack I've never been with someone who had such tremendous responsibilities he's got ten fifteen thousand men waiting his orders to attack and it's going to happen very very soon about a mile from here later fresman badboo UNK Nike in order to end the misery and suffering of the people to bring an end to their pain and agony there is no other option but resistance Roy dig adjust my home at which would not he's tireless in his determination my suit works all night he has his commanders with him each dinner with them discussed his tactics nothing on the I think it's way past midnight when he finally relaxes she will read the Quran he'll read his books of poetry he does not stop he just does not stop working he's been known to go 36 hours without any real sleep recharging on occasional three-minute naps we tell Masood about the twins he's very disturbed and he says that he will send a doctor to the refugee camp to not only to look at the twins but to tend to everyone there particularly the children watching him pour over an old mill at an old Soviet military map trying to figure out how to attack the Taliban and I feel like my I'm watching a great chess player ulema see it pushes on into the early hours of the morning barely sleeping rising for prayers at sunrise people think of Islam as it as a intolerant religion what wondered just spawns terrorist fighters but the Prophet Mohammed his teachings were unbelievably tolerant day6 Massoud is unexpectedly pulled away to rest his chronically bad back resigned Sebastian decided to scout out the front want to see what it's like up here I mean it's totally quiet dig they're planning an offensive for a couple of days from now we do really too busy to talk to them then so there's a chance to get to another place were your safety it's important to know the place before when one of my suits men fires off an honorary salute for the visitors Sebastian Reza and the others suddenly become live targets Masood men are amused but Sebastian andrás are aren't laughing they got to go they have seen us undershoot into us ya know if it hits right there early in danger yeah I mean I just the photographer you have to be always attend just please you can take notes from down here quite easily the shooting ends as quickly as it started why do these guys think this is so funny they all started laughing but well that's it so the hard way isn't it that's how they react always we were laughing tonight now where we are laughing they start laughing immediately they're in hysterics there's grateful back at the kuk-ja River Sebastian and rays are are finding that the routines of everyday life go on I've always been amazed at how quickly normal life resumes as you as you move back from there you know sometimes within a few hundred yards people are there stuck living there and they're doing the things they need to do to live there getting water they're cooking they're even having weddings they're taking all this my friends one white one bringing it front to dance for the groom's celebration is for men only the bride has her own party but some of the women and little girls can't help sneaking a peek it's funny that's the mirror that on you in the cooking here I'm imagining the most the cooking is done by women in the household hmm very very good it's mixed up the sweet carrot the rice due to water of meat water it's very tasteful you animal the thing that really makes an impression sometimes is this the incredible generosity of these people yeah he's our publisher who I see a man won how'd you be stabbed with a bit uh you meet Afghanistan and they welcome you into their home they'll give you their last crust of bread it's it's very very moving tone of the app go to potential I wish you next year - boy sure well on the phone gosh day 8 Massoud has decided it's time to launch a key offensive I say I tell you what they're going to start tonight absolutely I'm sure that is tonight position hard everywhere just all over the commander invites Sebastian andrás are to spend a night at his post front-row seats as the Sun sets resistance soldiers head off to mount the offensive oh yes the suit's strategy is paying off under the light of a kerosene lamp razor shall sebastien the plan of attack one hour ago they captured this position which is a very high position and overlooking to the city and their plan is to capture all this position tonight Jesus and if they capture this position tonight so then they will get out of the city so that's how they they were trapped him before the hand-to-hand fighting begins Masood men shall the Taliban position relentlessly take up to another 1000 by morning the suits forces have taken a hilltop called position Darya resort and Sebastian won a closer look this is sort of the teeth of the thing the situation the war reporting on this is the birth is the very front positions this is where it's happening and either they make it work up in these positions or they fail to and I want to I want to see that it's important to see it they trek for three hours on mountain paths to reach the new frontline but before they even get there the shelling begins just Jesus by the time they reach the top incoming shells are hitting like clockwork my path doesn't answer just fascinate my finish finish always finishing it was awesome and David as the enemy Gunners get their range the Rockets are hitting closer and closer it's very hard to describe how frightening it is you just feel incredibly exposed you know it's clear this shelling is a prelude to a major attack and this time nobody's laughing the commander orders Reza and Sebastian to leave immediately and we got a taste of it that's nothing but those guys are gonna go through tonight it's going to be a hell of tractor this is just beginning they already shot more than a 15 we learned what we were gonna learn up there in half an hour you know and if there was an assault on that place to be incredibly dangerous and it's very unprofessional - yeah I get killed on the way back down the meet up with more resistance fighters and many are closer to being boys than men my Jenna hi jack the old I was sent to the hill that he was coming from the oldest enforcement for Senate still you don't get that they're waiting the Morris coming down with a heavy round I believe that the Taliban is coming to lunch hey maybe like a big cookie take back this the reinforcements have a long night ahead of them day 14 my suits back you're Tommy's Abbas at the bottom they're my bosses oh he's decided that going to the front is the only way to learn what he needs to know today little meadow resort and Sebastian joined his convoy just left the observation point if we're going down into the valley and across the river to what was what has been no-man's land for quite a long time to check his forward positions and then he's gonna make a decision but what they're not crossing the river Masoud makes it across but Rosa and Sebastian's truck dies in the high water leaving him stranded they press on by foot the locals are telling us where the convoy went apparently they went to a place very dangerous to get there it's open and if you go on foot they'll shoot you the Taliban will shoot you we're quite close now that positions are right up on that hill it'll be hours before they find my suit again on the way back they stumble on another of wars harsh realities dead overnight a field hospital is filling with resistant soldiers shattered legs and sickening wounds tell the story of a horrible detour through a minefield landmines with these people that we just see them they were hit by Milan minds around the positions and some of them they didn't make it to here Victor said that they don't have enough medicines and enough materials just sit there for a moment he just wanted to stop the bleeding and then they will see what he can do the deafening silence is testament to the soldiers courage truck for Sebastian it's disorienting to see so much carnage so close am i doing here this you know these people are suffering and this is what am i doing here is voyeuristic This Is It this is the real war you're gonna do stories like this you have to be prepared to face all of it you can't just pick the parts of the war that are exciting and clean one of the soldiers a 16 year old boy dies in the tent you will see all the humanities the stories in his face all the hopes of his mother his father ISM you were hoping after you you you can rake them up shit hey hey wake up wake up well did the third woman back at headquarters Massoud is furious at his commands he believes carelessness killed five of his soldiers in the land mines Anna wants to know what happened but Sheldon knew qualified oh no this is the same mistake that happened last time the same mistake our boys lost their lives I don't want this to happen again you know the Commander in question insists it wasn't his fault I told you what to do I went there myself and picked the spot you were supposed to attack at the top of the mountain and work your way down on dangerous missions Massoud tries to protect men who are their family's only son or who are married with children but death still comes Abdullah Liam was killed last night - one if life into morning by one by literature it is chest and killed him on the spot Abdullah Liam was just 20 years old the men of the family prepare Abdul's body for burial first washing him then smoothing holy water on his skin and wrapping him in fine cotton father's shouting at the Taliban y'all gonna kill my son I'm gonna kill you I don't kill you someone else will because the part of war you know you don't think about when one guy got killed one family is to deal with the rest of their lives the women of the village bring their sons into the world but it's the men alone who carry them out they see there's a tragedy but not a senseless one son Wallace huh Charlie who a fella said yourself yes at the refugee camp Massoud fulfills his promise sending the region's governor and doctor to check on the twins and all the other children the babies are growing sicker and the doctor believes their chances of surviving a slim oh there are so many others to treat I can't imagine that a baby that's that sake think they can't even cry is easily is going to survive fresh clean water doesn't exist here the filthy River is equal parts sewage dump bathtub and drinking fountain it's a toxic combination and it's killing people the misery and war most of it is not a particularly dramatic kind of misery it's a long long suffering of civilians who are completely helpless and just have to wait and wait and wait until peace comes the last stop for Reza and Sebastian is the Panjshir Valley my soon's stronghold the 120 mile-long valley lies just northeast of Kabul Hunter Valley is just gorgeous it looks like a cross between the Alps and Alaska surrounded by mountains with a narrow Gorge serving as the only way in and out it's one of the great natural fortresses of the world the valley is key to Massoud military success the Soviets tried to capture it nine times but failed these are all their tanks that were destroyed during the war this is the ruins of an empire the pancha Valley is a world apart in the rest of Afghanistan there's plenty of food and clean water and unlike many other regions of the country people in the Panjshir have hope for the future the feeling here in the punch here is help ibly different people are they're excited they're alive the talent are bustling and that they're building houses and they're building bridges across the river here Massoud is both army general and head of the local school board I'm fat he leads nearly every civilian effort in the pan shield you're one ambitious project is improving literacy only 15% of Afghan women can read or write Massoud is trying to change that by building new schools that will be open to everyone not just boys they get mob it is our conviction that both men and women are created by the Almighty lose both are human beings both have equal rights women can pursue an education women could pursue a career and women can play a role in society just like men mistake at Macmillan an aster stop chimey and her family have been living in the Panjshir for over a year she used to work as a nurse in the capital city of Kabul for the Taliban invasion cable channel inokashira when I saw how the Taliban was acting against women how they were beating people and destroying houses I decided to leave my home Hanuman return I knew they wouldn't let me work serve Jeff Martin behind row with no place to go Shaima her husband and their four children ended up destitute it was so bad we put on each other's we went outside to beg educated women begging in the streets and even when we were begging the Taliban was beating us for being out of our home but what could I do I had to feed my children not even when Massoud heard about his situation he helped her family find a home and gave her a job at the local hospital what the Taliban is doing is an Islam Islam doesn't say women shouldn't work I am so happy to be working here but even in the Panjshir there's no escaping the Taliban razaw and Sebastian are finally going to meet my suits enemy a prison for Taliban soldiers sits high on a hillside overlooking the valley the prisoners of war here are from all over Asia Pakistan my n ma China and they're not shy by discussing their future goals that is a funny son of an Vinayak play-doh but it after we've taken Afghanistan we'll go into other Central Asian countries and bring that I had helped them become a part of our big fundamentalist nation well he's sort of interesting because these guys are prisoners of war I mean all over the world prisoners of war are not treated very well and they're very well dressed the very well fed and they have frankly a beautiful house I mean they're living in much better conditions than the population here as a journalist I have to be very careful because I could be led to the story that Massoud is government wants me to believe I mean I admire Massoud tremendously but I never want to feel like I've been conned I have to scrutinize everything mega-mega the nincada to Istanbul Australian top Asian water off Massoud knows he can never defeat the Taliban just direct military action for him victory will come another way as he did with the Soviets Massoud aims to outlast the Taliban Broncos Ashta half rose threw him harm at the bogey ticket with the passing of each day the morale of the resistance is strong in the spirits of the general population are high the math wanna start yesterday the people are reacting more vigorously to the Taliban's actions without about our buddy Tasha was it focused on your bitch - bitch - that's what Amira somehow through it all the Afghans haven't lost hope or dignity in the face of war this people has a big heart which you don't find in many other places in the world they have a big heart and also a big soul it's the the most incredible place in the world from a suit and his people the future is measured by only one word survival and they intend to survive

Info

Channel: webistanphoto

Views: 253,175

Rating: 4.5427823 out of 5

Keywords: reza, sebastian junger, photo, journalism, author, afghanistan, national geographic, massoud, panjshir

Id: ZFg3KcYEYRs

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 48min 48sec (2928 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 06 2016

Reddit Comments