EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NO COMMERCIAL OR BOOK SALES. A young Afghan woman shows her face in public for the first time after 5 years of Taliban Sharia law as she waits at a food distribution centre in central Kabul November 14, 2001. Under its strict interpretation of Islam, the Taliban ordered all women hidden behind head-to-toe burqas. Afghan opposition forces consolidated their hold on the newly captured capital of Kabul and said new gains meant the Taliban now held less than 20 percent of the country as international calls intensified for a new broad-based government and more U.N. involvement. 

An Afghan boy jumps from the remains of a Soviet-era tank on the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Parwiz TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Children run away after an explosion in Kabul May 24, 2013. Several large explosions rocked a busy area in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday with Reuters witnesses describing shooting in the area. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST) 

An Afghan woman looks out from a helicopter window at the International Airport in Kabul March 7, 2013. Afghan women take a tour around Kabul to mark International Women's Day. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

An Afghan man poses for a picture for his friend among pigeons outside a mosque in Kabul November 16, 2012. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY ANIMALS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Afghan boys play on a destroyed car at a hilltop in Kabul October 18, 2012. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A man holds balloons for sale near the National Stadium in Kabul August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Michael Kelvington (R), a U.S. Army Captain, commander of the Battle company, 1-508 Parachute Infantry battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, and Haji Lala, on of the local elders, sit on a carpet as they share dinner in the town of Senjaray, Zahri district of Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan June 1, 2012. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: MILITARY) 

A cinema goer watches a Bollywood film at Ariana Cinema in Kabul May 3, 2012. Once a treasured luxury for the elite, Afghan cinemas are dilapidated and reflect an industry on the brink of collapse from conflict and financial neglect. Kabul's cinemas show Pakistani films in Pashto, American action films and Bollywood to rowdy, largely unemployed crowds in pursuit of any distraction from their drab surroundings. Picture taken May 3, 2012. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY ENTERTAINMENT)
ATTENTION EDITORS - PICTURE 19 OF 26 FOR PACKAGE 'KABUL'S SILVER SCREEN' 

Afghans gather to celebrate Afghan New Year (Nawroz) in Kabul March 20, 2012. Afghanistan uses the Persian calendar which runs from the vernal equinox. The calendar takes as its start date the time when the Prophet Mohammad moved from Mecca to Medina in 621 AD. The current Persian year is 1391. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Men watch a quail fighting competition in Kabul November 24, 2011. Quail fighting is both a popular hobby and a gambling game for people in Afghanistan. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY ANIMALS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

ATTENTION EDITORS - VISUAL COVERAGE SCENES OF DEATH AND INJURY
An child receives medical attention during a Medevac mission in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province November 13, 2010. The child was injured in an explosion. REUTERS/Peter Andrews (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CONFLICT MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Afghan children stand together near the town of Kunjak in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province October 24, 2010. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY CONFLICT IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

A newly graduated soldier from the Afghan National Army (ANA) attends a graduation ceremony in Kabul September 23, 2010. Afghanistan's army got its first female officers in decades on Thursday when 29 women graduated in a class of new recruits. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS) 

A burqa-clad Afghan woman walks through a cemetery in Kabul January 30, 2010. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

An Afghan girl touches her mother's artificial leg the ICRC Ali Abad Orthopaedic centre in Kabul November 12, 2009. The centre, which is run mostly by disabled people, aims to educate and rehabilitate landmine victims and people with any kind of deformities, to help them integrate effectively into society. They also provide the patients with a 18-months interest free $600 micro credit loan. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen (AFGHANISTAN HEALTH SOCIETY CONFLICT POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

An Afghani girl looks at U.S. Marine Capt. Micajah Caskey, from 8th Marine Regiment, while he talks with her father during a foot patrol in Garmsir district in Helmand province, October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (AFGHANISTAN MILITARY POLITICS) 

A handicapped man sits waiting for handouts street-side in Kabul August 12, 2009. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (AFGHANISTAN SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Afghan national army soldier sleeps outdoors during sunrise at their compound inside at Panjwai district in Kandahar, May 31, 2009. REUTERS/Jorge Silva (AFGHANISTAN CONFLICT MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

The wife of Sakhi Allah is seen at the door of their cave home, in the Afghan village of Mulayan, Bamiyan province April 19, 2009. Villagers say their homes were sacked by the Taliban and when they returned from several years as refugees, they were forced to move into old caves dug into the hills above their former houses. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN SOCIETY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE) 

Afghan men wait to be searched at a checkpoint at Delaram district in Nimroz province, southern Afghanistan January 21, 2010. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CRIME LAW) 

Afghan children look at Canadian soldiers of the NATO-led coalition while they patrol in their compound in the Taliban stronghold of Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, March 19, 2009. Picture taken March 19, 2009. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini ( AFGHANISTAN POLITICS MILITARY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE) 

Shamsia, 17, victim of an acid attack by the Taliban, lies on a bed at a hospital in Kabul November 15, 2008. The Taliban, which does not permit women to attend school, attacked Shamsia two days ago as she was on her way to class with 15 other schoolgirls, according to police. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN) 

A veiled Afghan woman waits with her son, whose legs have been amputated, for alms on a street in Kabul August 4, 2008. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (AFGHANISTAN) 

An Afghan mother holds her child as she visits a health clinic in Eshkashem district of Badakhshan province, northeast of Kabul, April 23, 2008. Women die in childbirth every day in Afghanistan, a country with one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. About 1,600 Afghan women die in childbirth out of every 100,000 live births. In some of the most remote areas, the death rate is as high as 6,500. Picture taken April 23, 2008. To match feature AFGHAN-HEALTH/MOTHERS REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN) 

An Afghan National Army soldier, with a freshly picked rose attached to his weapon, returns from a mission to hunt for weapons caches in the Taliban stronghold of Panjwaii town, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, November 12, 2007. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (AFGHANISTAN) 

Aseel Khan (R) weeps as his brother, a freed prisoner (L), hugs a relative in Kabul October 12, 2006. Exhausted, but happy, 16 Afghans were freed in Kabul on Thursday after being released by the U.S. military from its Guantanamo Bay jail. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN) also see GF1DUVDGBGAA 

Afghan girls stand at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan February 1, 2016. Ten people were killed and 20 wounded, most of them civilians in Monday's suicide bomb attack outside a police station in a busy area of western Kabul, Afghan Deputy Interior Minister Ayub Salangi said in a Twitter post. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Afghan girls study at an open area, founded by Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), outside Jalalabad city, Afghanistan September 16, 2015. REUTERS/Parwiz TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

A groom stands next to his car as he poses for a photograph just after leaving a barber shop in Kabul March 6, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 6, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 44 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

An Afghan female power-lifter demonstrates during a local sport ceremony in a stadium in Kabul March 8, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 8, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY SPORT)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 28 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

Afghan female prisoners sit on their bed at Herat's prison for women, western Afghanistan, December 8, 2013. Foreign aid donors have ensured regular meals, heating and healthcare in Herat's prison for women, but those arrangements are now at risk and fears that its female prisoners may be abandoned are growing as the prison's main benefactor, the Italian Provincial Reconstruction Team, winds down operations alongside most foreign troops.The government has shown little interest in protecting hard-won rights for women and most of its limited funds will be devoted to fighting a growing Taliban insurgency. Picture taken December 8, 2013. To match story AFGHANISTAN-PRISON/ REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) 

Aisha 11, carries coal to be used for cooking and heating from a brick-making factory in Jalalabad December 17, 2013. REUTERS/Parwiz (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY) 

Shakila Naderi (L), teaches a girl how to drive a car, in Kabul May 15, 2012. The morning after the Taliban fell Naderi shed her head-to-toe burqa, sat behind the wheel of a car for the first time and asked her husband to teach her how to drive. Now Kabul's only female driving instructor, she teaches women a rare skill that confronts harsh opposition in ultra-conservative, Muslim Afghanistan. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

Afghans soccer players gather in front of the destroyed Darul Aman palace in Kabul June 1, 2010. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SPORT SOCIETY SOCCER) 

Afghan boys play soccer in front of the gaping niche where a giant Buddha statue used to stand in the central town of Bamiyan some 240 km (149 miles) northwest of Kabul April 13, 2007. The Taliban destroyed two of the statues in 2001. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (AFGHANISTAN) 

A youth waits for customers outside a video shop in Kabul October 25, 2007. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN) 

Afghan children play in front of a former hospital building, which was destroyed during the civil war and now houses some homeless Afghan families, in Kabul September 3, 2006. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN) 

An Afghan boy receives polio vaccination drops during an anti-polio campaign in Kabul, Afghanistan March 5, 2006. The three-day anti-polio drive, which began on Sunday, aims to reach out to about 7.2 million children below five years of age across the country. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood 

Children play on diving platforms at an empty pool in Kabul June 5, 2007. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN) 

EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NO COMMERCIAL OR BOOK SALES. An Afghan woman removes her burka as " The General Coalition of Women" group
organized a meeting of Afghan women to demonstrate for their rights November
20, 2001. Under its strict interpretation of Islam, the Taliban ordered
women to hide behind head-to-toe burkas, also forbidden to work or study.
PP03070097 REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis PP04010046

YB 

An Afghan man working as inspector for political party marks ballot box at election counting centre in Herat. An Afghan man working as an inspector for a political party marks a ballot box which he has inspected at an election counting centre in Herat September 20, 2005. Counting of ballots from Afghanistan's landmark legislative elections began slowly on Tuesday after international observers praised the vote and al Qaeda's number two condemned it as a farce. Pictures of the Year 2005 REUTERS/Caren Firouz 

A man sits among dresses for sale as he waits for his family who are shopping at a market in Kabul April 7, 2008. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN) 

Afghan schoolgirls peer through the window of their classroom at a French
government sponsored centre for children traumatised by war on the outskirts
of Kabul February 23, 2003. The centre, located in one of the poorest areas
of the capital, looks after youngsters who have been traumatised by years of
war. Many were refugees in various camps in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan.
Pictures of the Year 2003 REUTERS/Erik de Castro

EDC/JD/WS 

Veiled Afghan women ride in the trunk of a car in Charikar, north of Kabul,
on February 18, 2003. The all-enveloping "burqa", which covers a woman from
head to toe, became a symbol of the Taliban's oppression of women. Yet today
most women in Afghanistan still wear it, many for fear of reprisals if they
unveil. Picture taken February 18, 2003. Pictures of the Year 2003
REUTERS/Erik de Castro

EDC/CP 

An Afghan man carries boiled eggs for sale on snow covered Qargha Lake in Kabul, Afghanistan February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Afghan boys play near a residential complex which is under construction in Kabul, March 5, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 5, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION POLITICS SOCIETY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 47 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

A wedding photographer shows bridal portraits at his photo studio in Kabul March 6, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 6, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 45 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

A hairstylist cuts hair for a customer at his barber shop in Kabul March 6, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 6, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 41 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

A couple walk hand-in-hand at a local bazaar in Kabul, March 13, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 13, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 43 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

A female soccer player controls a ball during a training session at the Golab Trust Sport Complex in Kabul March 10, 2014. Despite decades of conflict in Afghanistan, and several recent militant attacks, the country's capital Kabul is home to a vibrant youth scene of musicians, artists, athletes and activists. Shopping malls and cafes stand in the city, which is nonetheless beset by infrastructure problems and instability. Afghanistan is preparing for an election on April 5 that should mark the first democratic transfer of power in the country's history, but it has been hit by a tide of violence as the Islamist Taliban movement has ordered its fighters to disrupt the vote and threatened to kill anyone who participates. Picture taken March 10, 2014. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS SPORT SOCCER)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 31 OF 48 FOR PACKAGE "THE MODERN FACE OF KABUL"
TO FIND ALL IMAGES SEARCH "KABUL NIKOUBAZL" 

A man walks in a desert during an election campaign in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan March 19, 2014. The Afghan presidential elections will be held on April 5. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) 

An Afghan man washes his horse in Kabul August 4, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY ANIMALS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) 

An Afghan man smokes shisha, or water pipe, inside a cafe in Kabul, May 13, 2012. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY) 

An Afghan man shops inside an electrical shop at the old part of Kabul May 8, 2012. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS) 

An Afghan police helicopter flies over Hazrat Ali (Kart-i-Sakhi) shrine where Afghans celebrate the Afghan New Year (Nawroz) in Kabul March 20, 2012. Afghanistan uses the Persian calendar which runs from the vernal equinox. The calendar takes as its start date the time when the Prophet Mohammad moved from Mecca to Medina in 621 AD. The current Persian year is 1391. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) FOR BEST QUALITY IMAGE: ALSO SEE GF2E8B30FZF01. 

Afghan girls work at a first Internet cafe for women in Kabul March 8, 2012. Afghanistan opened its first female-only internet cafe on Thursday, hoping to give women a chance to connect to the world without verbal and sexual harassment and free from the unwanted gazes of their countrymen. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: SOCIETY) 

A woman carries a metal jar containing water on her head inside a house, as seen from a bunker of U.S. soldiers from Task Force "No Fear" Alpha Co 2-27 Infantry "The Wolfhounds" in Combat Outpost (COP) Pirtle King in Ghaziabad district in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan September 22, 2011. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: CONFLICT SOCIETY) 

Afghan actor Anyatullah Farmin (L) stands with a mock gun as an unidentified actor has his make-up done before the filming of a scene for the comedy "The Ministry", in Kabul August 2, 2011. Britain and the United States poke fun at incompetent, arrogant middle managers in the television comedy "The Office", but in Afghanistan the target is a fictional minister of garbage in a new series called "The Ministry". Instead of a series mocking drab office life in impoverished Afghanistan, where there is widespread unemployment, "The Ministry" mockumentary puts a satirical spin on some serious issues such as corruption, drug trafficking and nepotism. To match Feature AFGHANISTAN-TELEVISION/MINISTRY REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT SOCIETY) 

A female officer from Officer Candidate School at Kabul Military Training Centre stands next to her bed as high ranking officials from the defense ministry arrives to inspect the school after their graduation ceremony in Kabul May 19, 2011. The female officers graduated after a 20-week course including computer training, human resources training, English classes and marksmanship. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS IMAGES OF THE DAY)