His superior, Abdul Samad, shows us an unmarked graveyard, saying his father is buried here, killed fighting for the Taliban.
The area is one of the most deprived in a country where the UN says three in four people cannot provide for their basic needs. Samad says the local population desperately need water, roads and clinics.
“Emirate [Taliban] officials have not forgotten us,” says Samad. He says the leaders may be busy with other priorities. “We are hopeful, they will look after us sometime.”
Five years since the Taliban began their second stint in power, poverty, unemployment and economic instability remain pressing concerns.
Taliban figures we spoke to said they were working to tackle them, but we met other people who believe the group itself is the country’s main problem.
“I’m speechless about how a group that has no understanding about life is suddenly in power,” says Hoda – not her real name – a woman who protested on the streets when the Taliban first returned to power.
“Women can’t accept this situation,” she tells the BBC. “They might advance restrictions but it won’t stay like this forever.”
“I think the Taliban are scared of educated women,” she adds. “That’s why they restrict women. They want uneducated women so they can’t raise wise men. Because that would end the Taliban.”
Additional reporting by Hafizullah Maroof
