‘We are ready to fight’: Seniors at a girls-only high school in Afghanistan face an uncertain future

Students in the Class of 2021 are too young to have experienced the Taliban’s brutal years in power, but they’re old enough to understand what they read in history books. Many of them took their midterm exams last month ahead of graduation later this year, a rite of passage into an increasingly uncertain future. Since then, the Taliban has made staggering gains. The militants control half of the country’s 34 provincial capitals, holding key cities such as Kandahar and Herat and heightening concern of a government collapse.