Jack Gruber | Photojournalist Nearly 150 families of Anbar Somuch, a central highland Afghanistan village in the Koh-a-Baba mountains, fled their homes after the Taliban captured the region in some of the final and most brutal battles of the Afghan civil war in late 1998. Those villagers--estimated near 180--who stayed to protect their homes were killed. Now, one year after the Taliban regime was forced from the region in late 2001, village refugees are returning to their homes in Anbar Somuch finding them completely burned and destroyed by the fleeing Taliban who took with them any possessions and livestock left behind by the fleeing villagers. With the help of world aid agencies and other donations, the village is rebuilding and hoping to survive through this first winter home. "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." Read the full USA TODAY story written by USA TODAY's Mark Memmott. © 2002 USA TODAY