“My first experience reporting abroad was during my visit to Afghanistan. The novelty and excitement of such an exotic environment inspired me to keep taking photos of my surroundings. Photography was not allowed on the streets of Afghanistan, so I had to shoot secretly. Many times I had been stopped by armed police officers who forced me to delete my photos. Despite this, I still caught many valuable memories. I hope these pictures will accurately depict the current conditions of the country. It has struggled in wars for over ten years and I wish to raise awareness over the troubles the Afghan people face every day.”

Wang Jing

Afghanistan, many people rely on guns to protect themselves against dangers. One of the most dangerous jobs in Afghanistan is being a policeman. Their monthly salary is as low as 60 US dollars and is usually the only income for their families. Their work is exhausting and they lack any sense of security.

Photos taken from August 15 to 22, 2011.

KABUL, Afghanistan – That was one early morning in August, 5:50 am, children bold enough risked to step up on roofs of their clay house thickly dotted on hills of the Kabul city.

They were looking at a giant, black cloud rising from the city’s ground not far away.

Five minute ago, a car boom and sporadic gunshots ripped through the quiet morning.

Right on the same roofs, children were flying kites and smiling to China Daily reporters’ cameras a day ago.

According to the first-ever survey released late November on mortality by the Ministry of Public Health, one Afghan child in ten will die before their fifth birthday.

Around half of deaths of under-fives were caused by respiratory infections or infectious and parasitic diseases, the survey found. Nearly a quarter of city dwellers and half of the rural population do not have access to clean drinking water.The survey does not have to elaborate that millions in the country’s drought-hit North are facing starvation, air strikes by NATO keep injuring civilians and children carrying automatic guns on streets were still recruited by insurgency.

We even undoubtedly believe that younger ones will hardly reunite with their moms if they got lost – because a large number of women remain wearing the identical, unrecognizable, blue burqa that wraps the whole body.

Children can be seen striving for a living everywhere.

They help wash cars on congested roads, vender shampoos in small package at lakeside or simply beg around the old king’s house that was wired and surrounded by dried poppy.