The United States invaded Afghanistan along with allied forces in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 terror attacks and has been there ever since, before the impending withdrawal this year of the last American troops.

AP photographers have also been there every step of the way, documenting for the outside world the protracted conflict and occupation over the course of two decades, and now the unexpectedly chaotic departure as the Taliban swiftly reasserts control over the country.

As is the case with any war, many of the images that emerged were of death and destruction, pain and suffering.

In Kandahar, bloody banknotes covered the bare torso of a dead insurgent after police found them in his pocket following an attack on the former intelligence headquarters and a shootout with security forces.

Aboard a helicopter on a medevac mission, two US Army soldiers treated a member of the Afghan National Army who was wounded by gunfire during an assault in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah.