Photo: Massoud Hossaini
A year on from the fall of Kabul, Australian reporter Lynne O’Donnell returned to Afghanistan, and now says she’ll never go back.
O’Donnell returned for three days last month, only to be detained, forced to retract articles, and coerced into making a public apology for accusing the Taliban of sex slavery.
During this harrowing time, she was in close contact with Massoud Hossain, a Kabul-born photojournalist. The pair have worked together in Afghanistan for years, and both are on a Taliban death list. Hossain is currently based in New Zealand, where he has been given asylum.
O’Donnell is a Foreign Policy columnist and was Afghanistan bureau chief for Agence France-Presse (AFP) and the Associated Press between 2009-2017. Hossaini is a Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist who joined AFP in 2007. In 2021 he won the William Randolph Hearst Award for Excellence in Professional Journalism.
Hossaini filming anti-Taliban force positions in Balkh province, 2021. (PHOTO: Lynne O'Donnell)
Pulitzer Winning Photo: after explosions during a religious ceremony in Kabul, 2011. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP/GettyImages)
A protest against violence against women, Kabul, 2017. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AP)
Afghan National Amy commandos, Kabul, 2017. ( (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AP)
Hazara ethnic girl students at class in Kabul, 2002. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini)
In a Marine Shinook helicopter, 2008. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP)
A foreign youth on her skateboard, the Sound Central Festival, Kabul, 2013. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP via Getty Images)
2007 in Kabul. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP)
NATO soldier opens fire toward journalists, 2014. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AP)
Midwife training, Mahmud Raqi, 2013. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/ AFP via Getty Images)
Afghan footballers celebrate 3-0 win against Pakistan, Kabul, 2013. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP)
An Afghan man clears the snow from the roof of his house, Kabul, 2008. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini/AFP)
Pashtun tribe girl in market, Lashkargah city, southern Helmand province, 2005. (PHOTO: Massoud Hossaini)
