A worker at the Jabal Saraj cement factory poses for a photograph in Jabal Saraj, north of Kabul, Afghanistan April 19, 2016. In an area desperately short of industry and jobs, local workers hope that the relaunch of the plant in Jabal Saraj, built by Czech engineers in 1957 and closed down by the Taliban in 1995, can show that Afghanistan's shattered industry can climb back to its feet after decades of war and destruction. But the outdated state-owned plant some 75 kilometres outside Kabul also shows how far it has to go before that promise can be achieved and there are serious questions over whether it has a viable future unless a new, modern facility is built to replace it. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

Afghan women and a boy make their way in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, November 15, 2015. (Photo by Rahmat Gul/AP Photo)

Girls ride on a donkey cart with grass for animals on the outside of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan May 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

An Afghan hawker selling balloons walks along a path in a ground in Chaman-e-Hozori area in Kabul on December 10, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

An Afghani man sells bread on a roadside in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 23 April 2024. A recent World Bank report reveals a 26% decrease in Afghanistan's gross output over the past year, primarily attributed to a 1.3 billion USD income reduction for farmers due to the ban on drug cultivation. Although tax revenue saw a modest increase of 13% in 2023, exports experienced a 15% decline specifically to Pakistan. Afghan officials highlighted efforts to spur domestic production, improve trade, stabilize the national currency, and initiate key economic projects. (Photo by Qudratullah Razwan/EPA/EFE)

Afghan bodybuilders compete in the Mr. Afghanistan bodybuilding competition in Kabul on July 10, 2024. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

An Afghan man shows his skills while riding a motorcycle along a road on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif on October 6, 2024. (Photo by Atif Aryan/AFP Photo)

A Taliban security personnel stands guard as Afghan burqa-clad women wait in queue in the midst of a downpour to receive food supplies donated during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Kabul on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)