Ο πόλεμος τα καταστρέφει όλα αργά ή γρήγορα, με μαθηματική ακρίβεια…

Δεν θα μπορούσε να συμβεί κάτι διαφορετικό στην περίπτωση του Αφγανιστάν, εφόσον οι Ταλιμπάν ανέλαβαν δράση και κατέστρεψαν τη χώρα.

Δείτε όμως ένα… άλλο Αφγανιστάν, 4 και 5 δεκαετίες πριν, που ελάχιστες διαφορές έχει με την Ελλάδα.

Mr Pommery returned to Afghanistan in 1974 with his wife and friends. This fascinating image, taken outside the Spinzar Hotel in Kabul, shows a woman wearing western clothes as she walks along the street

Kabul in 1974 was a friendly, bustling city. Mr Pommery said: 'We stayed one month. Nothing had changed [from our 1969 visit] apart from the fact that the king had been thrown out by the prime minister at that time, Maoud'

Two women in veils approach a horse and cart in Hérat - Afghanistan's third-largest city

Passing knowledge from generation to generation: A man shows a young boy how to use his weaving loom

A young boy pictured in Herat in 1974. The atmosphere on the sun-drenched street is relaxed and friendly

A couple in the village of Waigal, in the Want District of Nuristan Province, in 1969

A man and a woman in Waigal in 1969. Pommery said that the people he met were happy to pose for photographs

Mr Pommery hitchhiked all the way from France to Afghanistan in 1969, using a travel bursary given to him as a student
The people of Nuristan (pictured) live at heights of up to 6,000 feet in wooden huts

Those who live in Nuristan (pictured) are said to be descended from Alexander the Great – and sometimes have blond hair and blue eyes

A local in Nuristan rests in the sun. The inaccessibility of the region didn't put Mr Pommery off

Mr Pommery said: 'Friends had gone to Afghanistan in 1965 and mentioned a beautiful region, the Nuristan (pictured is a local girl from the region), where they had been bounced back as you need special permission to get there. In search of adventures, I decided to go there'
A glass-blower at work in the city of Herat. Mr Pommery said he was treated well where ever he went

A repair workshop on a dusty road in Bamiyan. The scene is an idyllic one, with fresh fruit for sale and lush trees lining the route

Houses in Kabul march up a dusty mountain. Mr Pommery revealed that he was welcomed on his first visit by a village chief in Nuristan who put him up in a house they reserved for travellers

Meat hangs up in a butcher's shop in Herat, watched over by a man and a young boy
Mr Pommery's mode of transport for his return trip to Afghanistan in 1974

The contrast between old and new modes of transport was stark

A street in Kabul that looks homely and quaint, with home wares being sold from the pavement and cyclists pootling along the road

Mr Pommery discovered a land of dramatic desert mountains and tranquil lakes
On his second visit Mr Pommery went to Bamiyan to admire the Buddhas sculpted in the cliffs

The tallest Buddha in Bamiyan was 170 feet. The statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001

This fascinating picture was taken by Mr Pommery from the head of one of the now-destroyed Buddhas

A horse, covered in red balls, delves into a nosebag by the side of a road for a feed

The incredible Buddha statues in Bamiyan, viewed from a distance. The irrigated farmland contrasts hugely with the dusty rocks that surround it

A lake in Band-e Amir National Park glistens in the evening sun

The stunning Band-e Amir National Park - Afghanistan's first and a landscape that's home to six eye-catching lakes

The turmoil of modern Afghanistan is far removed from the peaceful scenes that Mr Pommery encountered

A woman in a burka walks pasty rickety buildings in Herat in 1974

Mr Pommery said: 'People called us the French doctors and asked us to treat injuries for which we could only apply ointments that we had in our bags'

The language barrier meant that Mr Pommery was forced to communicate by drawing in his notebook

A striking image of a young boy wearing a cap and a man, relaxing by a stone wall on the route to Bamiyan

A Kabul bus pulls over at a petrol station, along with a jumble of trucks and cars

A brightly painted Afghan truck in 1974 with a jet plane motif

A dried up riverbed snakes through Kabul, with locals using the bridge to hang rugs from 

Adventurer: Mr Pommery himself, exploring a village in Nuristan in 1969

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