Between 2021 and 2023, Adnan worked in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, gaining unprecedented access during the most critical period of modern Afghan history. He documented Taliban governance structures and shifts in the population while producing Emmy-winning documentary work for HBO and BBC on the chaotic fall of Kabul in August 2021. His reporting for the Financial Times provided analysis of the Taliban's rapid military success, the collapse of Afghan government forces, and the humanitarian crisis of the US withdrawal—grounded in direct observation of how the Taliban operated in the territories they controlled. This sustained field presence, combined with developing language capabilities provided rare insight into Taliban decision-making and the realities of governance under an Islamist insurgency-turned-government that few Western analysts accessed. The experience revealed the profound gap between Western assumptions about Afghanistan and the lived reality on the ground, informing his subsequent work on intervention failures, counterinsurgency strategy, and the complexities of state-building in conflict zones. His service as a soldier in the Iraq War—both during the 2003 invasion and the 2006-7 Basra insurgency—brought a unique perspective to understanding Afghanistan's collapse: the view from both sides of intervention, as participant and observer, executor and analyst. This dual lens illuminated the recurring patterns of the limits of regime change imposed by external powers, and why counterinsurgency doctrine repeatedly fails to account for local political dynamics, social structures, and the resilience of indigenous resistance movements.

Selected media

2022, HBO/BBC, Escape from Kabul, Emmy award-winning and BAFTA nominated, Additional Cinematography and Field Support

2022, Financial Times, We may not agree with the Taliban but we should help Afghanistan

2021, Financial Times, Among the Taliban: a soldier-turned-writer’s journey through Afghanistan 

2015, Financial Times, Martyrs, flowers and warrior poets (on the poetry of the Taliban)