KUNAR, Afghanistan (Dispatches) -- Five years after the United States ended its 20-year military occupation of Afghanistan, residents of a remote village in the northeastern province of Kunar say the hunger, insecurity and hardship of the war remain deeply embedded in their memories.
Reuters footage filmed in Kunar on Aug. 28 shows children sitting among the rugged hills of the province, where villagers recall the years of conflict and its impact on ordinary families.
Hasan Jan, a village elder, said the economic hardship during the war was so severe that families could not be sure where their next meal would come from.
“The economy was in such a state that we ate one meal and didn’t know where the next would come from,” Hasan Jan told Reuters.
“During the war, ordinary people, including women and children, and even our livestock, all of us suffered,” he said. “People were in misery day and night, and they could lose our lives at any moment.”
The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, 2021, bringing an end to its longest war. The departure closed a two-decade chapter of U.S. military involvement that began after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and continued through successive campaigns against the Taliban and other armed groups.
For many Afghans, however, the end of the foreign military presence did not erase the consequences of decades of conflict.
Reuters footage accompanying the testimony shows scenes from Afghanistan during and after the U.S. presence, including armed American troops in Kabul, children in Nangarhar, impoverished residents in Kabul and people collecting recyclable materials.
Afghanistan continues to face severe economic and humanitarian pressures. The country has struggled with poverty, food insecurity and reduced international assistance since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021. 
Reuters reported earlier this month that aid shortages have contributed to a critical rise in child malnutrition, with the World Food Programme warning that many severely malnourished children and mothers are being turned away from treatment.
For villagers in Kunar, memories of the war remain tied not only to military operations but to the daily struggle for food, safety and survival.
Hasan Jan’s account reflects the experience of communities far removed from the political decisions that shaped the conflict but exposed to its consequences.
Five years after the final U.S. troops left, Afghanistan’s mountains still hold reminders of a war that transformed the country, while families who lived through it continue to carry memories of loss and deprivation into an uncertain future.