AP Week in Pictures: Middle East
This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan Region between Aug. 12-18, 2021.
This week´s selection includes scenes from across the region, where the Taliban´s swift advance on Afghanistan followed the American retreat from the country two decades after their invasion.
Wildfires outside of Jerusalem darkened the skies, destroying forest, damaging homes and displacing residents. Shiites marked Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, which is a month of mourning for Shiites in remembrance of the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century.
The gallery was curated by Dusan Vranic, AP Deputy News Director for Photography & Storytelling for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Follow AP visual journalism:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews
Taliban fighters take control of the Afghan presidential palace after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Zabi Karimi)
AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images
AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com
Smoke rises after fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security personnel in the city of Kandahar, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)
A U.S. Chinook helicopter flies over the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Helicopters landed at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as diplomatic vehicles left the compound amid the Taliban advance on the Afghan capital. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
A Taliban fighter patrols in Wazir Akbar Khan in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. The Taliban declared an "amnesty" across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed a day after deadly chaos gripped the main airport as desperate crowds tried to flee the country. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Taliban fighters patrol inside the city of Kandahar province southwest, of Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Sidiqullah Khan)
Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. On Monday, the U.S. military and officials focus was on Kabul's airport, where thousands of Afghans trapped by the sudden Taliban takeover rushed the tarmac and clung to U.S. military planes deployed to fly out staffers of the U.S. Embassy, which shut down Sunday, and others. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani)
U.S. soldiers stand guard along the perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. On Monday, the U.S. military and officials focus was on Kabul's airport, where thousands of Afghans trapped by the sudden Taliban takeover rushed the tarmac and clung to U.S. military planes deployed to fly out staffers of the U.S. Embassy, which shut down Sunday, and others. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani)
A motorcyclist rides past a tanker spraying disinfectant in an effort to contain the outbreak of the coronavirus, in Karachi, Pakistan, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews stroll through the Machane Yehuda market under a sky darkened by nearby wildfires, in Jerusalem, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
People attend the funeral prayers of victims of an attack on a truck Saturday night, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 15, 2021. Attackers targeted a truck in the Pakistani port city, killing multiple people and wounding others. An initial investigation suggests the attackers followed the truck and then threw hand grenades or some sort of improvised explosive devices at one side of the truck, police said. (AP Photo/Ikram Suri)
A plane sprays wildfires burning for for the second day near Shoresh, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Israel Fire and Rescue service said in a statement that 45 firefighting teams accompanied by eight planes were working to contain five fires in the forested hills west of the city. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Palestinian mourners carry the body of Raed Abu Seif and Saleh Ammar, two of four Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the early morning, in the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen during a late-night arrest raid in the occupied West Bank, killing four Palestinians in one of the deadliest battles in the area in years, Palestinian health officials said Monday. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Shiite faithful pilgrims beat themselves with chains as a sign of grief for Imam Hussein outside the golden-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim during a Muharram procession in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021. Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is a month of mourning for Shiites in remembrance of the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
