The Americans effectively created two Afghanistans: the countryside, mired in endless conflict, and the urban streets of Kabul, prosperous and hopeful. This summer, @Anand_Gopal_ travelled to rural villages in the country to interview dozens of women. nyer.cm/96qzTci
More than 70 per cent of Afghans do not live in cities, and the endless killing of civilians in rural villages has turned many women who live there against the American occupiers who claimed that they were helping. nyer.cm/96qzTci 
Shakira, who lives in the Sangin Valley, has lost 16 family members in what some locals call the American War, including a 15-year-old who was killed by a drone while riding his motorcycle. nyer.cm/96qzTci
Gopal sampled a dozen households at random in Shakira’s village, wondering if other families were the same. “On average, I found, each family lost 10 to 12 civilians,” he writes. nyer.cm/96qzTci
In the countryside, “life under the Coalition forces and their Afghan allies was pure hazard,” Gopal writes. “What the Taliban offered over their rivals was a simple bargain: Obey us, and we will not kill you.” nyer.cm/96qzTci
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