As the year comes to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the most memorable events and images of 2017. Among the events covered in this essay (the second of a three-part photo summary of the year): Hurricane Harvey hits Texas, France elects a new president, wildfires rage in Portugal and California, white nationalists hold a torchlight march at the University of Virginia, a total solar eclipse crosses the United States, and much more. See also, the Top 25 News Photos of 2017, the Year in Photos Part 1, and coming tomorrow, Part 3. The series will comprise 120 images in all. Warning: Some of the photos may contain graphic or objectionable content.
Afghan policemen try to rescue four-year-old Ali Ahmad at the site of a suicide attack followed by a clash between Afghan forces and ISIS gunmen at a Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 25, 2017. The boy survived, and is now back with his family, but still suffers nightmares, his father said. Ali Ahmad was with his grandfather in the Imam Zaman mosque on Friday when at least two attackers in police uniforms stormed in, one exploding a suicide-bomb vest and the other firing indiscriminately at the hundreds of worshipers inside. His grandfather was among at least 20 killed. Sayed Bashir, Ali’s father, was nearby but not in the mosque when the initial blast was heard and immediately ran to check on his family. “Right after the explosion I thought everything was finished,” he said. “I called my father’s mobile phone number and my son answered and said: ‘They killed grandpa.’ He wanted me to bring the car and get him. We were running everywhere in search of my son but the police were stopping us and didn’t let us get too close.” Bashir called the number again and was speaking to Ali when another explosion went off. “I lost hope. I said to myself that everything was finished. I tried the number again but it was switched off.” In fact, Ali had run behind the mosque, disregarding the policeman frantically signalling to him in the courtyard.
(Omar Sobhani / Reuters)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/12/2017-in-photos-a-look-at-the-middle-months/547673/
