Almost a year after the war that forced them to flee ended. Millions migrated inside Afghanistan over two decades of bitter fighting during the US-led military occupation, which ended as the Taliban returned to power last August.

Many flocked to major cities such as Kabul where air strikes, bombings and firefights were less common than in rural Afghanistan, which has historically been the hardline Islamists’ power base.

On Thursday, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR facilitated the return of some 1,600 Afghans who were living in Kabul to their homes in provinces to the east.

“It’s a delightful day, we’re returning to our houses and our homelands,” said Sardar Wali, 45, a farmer from Laghman province who fled to Kabul months before the Taliban stormed back to power.