Jack Gruber | Photojournalist Ezatullah, 7, runs to catch one of his uncle's donkeys carrying brush gathered in the mountains necessary for heating and cooking for their family near the snow covered village of Anbar Somuch twenty-five kilometers west of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. "Before the Taliban, we had cows, livestock, sheep. Life here was very good. During the Taliban, those people were so cruel.....Now , our life is better than during the Taliban but not as good as before....But we are home, " says villager Javid. Two years ago, the villagers fled the Taliban, which had seized control of the area and told the villagers they would be killed if they stayed. Nearly 180 villagers were killed when they stayed behind to watch over their homes and livestock. Villagers retuned to Anbar Somuch in late 2001 to find that the Taliban, allies of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, had burned their homes, destroyed their shops and stolen their livestock. Many villager feared winter force most to flee again to find shelter in bigger towns. With help from a U.S. based aid group, enough homes were rebuilt to provide adequate shelter. © 2002 USA TODAY