For eight years Camp Bastion was the power-house of the British Army’s military operations in Afghanistan. Britain’s biggest overseas base since World War Two has now closed down for good. Channel 4 was given exclusive access to the men and women whose job it was to pack up this giant jigsaw puzzle.

A town the size of Reading with a massive infrastructure – airport, hospital, fast food restaurants – is dismantled bolt by bolt and sent back to the UK. What is left is handed over to the Afghans. But with defences and manpower depleting daily, in the face of a constant threat from the Taliban, it is a dangerous race against time to close this city in the sand.

Directed by Richard Parry produced by Leslie Knott
Duration: 47′
Year: 2014

In a time international troops are pulling out, leaving Afghanistan in charge of its own security, these women are breaking social boundaries. Some did not tell their families about their choice to join the army and the Taliban has put a price on the heads of the new cadettes.

Afghan Army Girls shows life on a military base isolated from the outside world, but also follows some women on their visits back home to their families. It gives a unique insight into the lives of a young generation that wants to contribute to the future of Afghanistan in unlikely circumstances.