Afghanistan, 1978 | This photograph is taken on route between Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and Herat in the northwest. Afghans display pride in their country, ancestry, military prowess, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes.

As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region.
© Arne Walderhaug