The Taliban released an American citizen, Faye Hall, who was detained in Afghanistan, a former U.S. ambassador said Saturday.
Hall “is now in the care of our friends, the Qataris in Kabul, and will soon be on her way home,” wrote Zalmay Khalilzad, who was a U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation until 2021 and the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Hall is the fourth U.S. citizen known to be released by the Taliban this year.
“Thank you for bringing me home, and I’ve never been so proud to be an American citizen,” Hall said in a video celebrating her release, posted by President Donald Trump on Truth Social.
“I just want you to know, all the women in the Afghan jail, they always ask me, ‘When is Trump coming?’” Hall said in the video, addressing Trump. “They are waiting for you to come and set them free. … Don’t want to forget all those women who are still in jail and don’t have any rights,” she added.
The State Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Khalilzad announced the release of another American citizen, George Glezmann, who worked as a Delta Air Lines mechanic and had been detained for two years for unknown reasons. Khalilzad called Glezmann’s release a “goodwill gesture” from the Taliban to Trump and the American people and praised Trump for making “the freedom and homecoming of Americans held abroad a high priority.”
In January, President Joe Biden secured the release of two other Americans, Ryan Corbett and William W. McKenty III, who were let go as the Taliban announced a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Afghanistan and after what Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, called “intense behind-the-scenes efforts by U.S. officials.”
The Taliban at the time identified one freed Afghan prisoner, Khan Mohammed, who it said was arrested in the Afghan province of Nangarhar nearly two decades ago and was serving a life sentence in California.
Corbett, a father from New York, ran a social enterprise organization that worked with NGOs to help Afghan citizens start their own businesses. He was detained by the Taliban for nearly two and a half years, according to his family, who say they suspect he was taken into custody to be used as political leverage.
Last year, members of Congress called for the release of U.S. citizen and civil aviation engineer Mahmood Habibi, who they said “was wrongfully detained by the Taliban.” In a House resolution, officials said Habibi was arrested in August 2022 because the Taliban “made an assumption” that his employer — a Kabul-based telecommunications company — “might have been involved” in a U.S. dronestrike on Kabul that killed an al-Qaeda leader.
Habibi has yet to be released. In August, the FBI made a public request for any further information about his disappearance.
Taliban releases American woman detained in Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s last female ambassador, Manizha Bakhtari, continues her fight against Taliban from Austria, advocating for women’s rights and leading resistance.
A day before Kabul fell to the Taliban, Manizha Bakhtari asked Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar: “What will we do if the government falls?” “The government won’t fall,” Atmar assured his ambassador to Austria.
Manizha Bakhtari, the Afghan Ambassador to Austria(Golden Girls Film)
Hours later, Taliban troops walked into the capital after America pulled its last forces out of Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister soon fled the country, seeking refuge in Turkey. Bakhtari didn’t. Defying the Taliban’s order dismissing her, she remained in the embassy and still continues to represent her country in Vienna while fighting for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan as the last Afghan woman envoy in the world.
Last week, Bakhtari, 52, was given a standing ovation by the audience at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX) in Denmark where a new documentary on her had its world premiere. The Last Ambassador, directed by Austrian filmmaker Natalie Halla, shows a determined diplomat refusing to give up and launching a lasting resistance against the Taliban on the global stage.
The Last Ambassador, a new documentary on Manizha Bakhtari, premiered at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival in Denmark on March 22 (Golden Girls Film)
The 80-minute film, which premiered at CPH:DOX on March 22, spans the long journey of Bakhtari from her position as an envoy of the Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan to an ambassador that the Taliban doesn’t want. As she campaigns against international recognition for the Taliban regime, Bakhtari also sets up a clandestine learning network in Afghanistan for girls banned from schools.
Austrian lawyer-turned-filmmaker Natalie Halla, the director of The Last Ambassador (Amina Stelle Steiner)
“Manizha Bakhtari is still the Ambassador of Afghanistan to Austria. She is also still the representative of Afghanistan before the United Nations and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” says Halla, a lawyer-turned filmmaker who first saw Bakhtari on television news as she called the Taliban terrorists a few days after the fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021.
Legal limbo
The Taliban takeover in 2021 left Afghan embassies worldwide in a legal limbo as some envoys started cooperating with them while others refused. A few others dared to openly oppose the Taliban. Among them was Afghanistan’s last remaining woman ambassador, Bakhtari. It was a move that would invite swift punishment from the Taliban.
Soon Bakhtari received a letter signed by a Human Resources director in Kabul relieving her of duties. Her response too was prompt: “I am not taking orders from you, Mister,” she told herself, characterising the HR director as “probably a Taliban gunman”.
Manizha Bakhtari, the Afghan Ambassador to Austria and the country’s last woman envoy, refused to resign after the Taliban takeover in 2021 (Golden Girls Film)
As the legal vacuum continued, Bakhtari was asked on Austrian television whom she represented in Europe. “It is important to represent the people of Afghanistan. That is a mission for us now,” she replied, emphasising her resignation would happen only when the Taliban receive international recognition.
Situated on a busy thoroughfare, the Afghan embassy in Vienna was like any other mission until August 2021. The embassy would go on to pay a heavy price for its defiance. Several employees were let go after the Taliban stopped the flow of funds, forcing embassy drivers to cover vacant posts.
Manizha Bakhtari, the Afghan Ambassador to Austria and the country’s last woman envoy, refused to resign after the Taliban takeover in 2021 (Photo: Golden Girls Film)
On the third day of the fall of Kabul, the Taliban held a press conference, promising the world they will allow women to work “within the framework of Sharia” and declaring “women are an essential element of the society and we respect them”. “The Taliban were selling the idea that they had changed,” says Bakhtari in the film, which is dedicated to the women and girls of Afghanistan.
In the days following their proclamation to the world, women in Afghanistan began protesting they weren’t allowed back to work and girls crying they were denied entry to schools.
Managing mission
Bakhtari, a former ambassador to the Nordic countries, was watching the events back home with rapt attention. Five months after the Taliban takeover, she moved the embassy to an affordable house in Vienna, managing the mission with income from consular services. She also launched a campaign in Afghanistan called Dukhtaran, which means daughters in Persian, to secretly provide lessons to girls banned from schools.
Raising the pitch of resistance, Bakhtari also hosted a summit, called Vienna Conference, gathering Afghan representatives from all ethnic and religious groups in the Austrian capital in April 2023 to forge a united strategy against the Taliban. Among them were many women activists as well as Ahmad Massoud, the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who fought the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Manizha Bakhtari moved her embassy to an affordable house in Vienna after the Taliban cut funds (Golden Girls Film)
The Taliban hit back by blacklisting the Vienna embassy and declaring documents issued by it as invalid. Bakhtari also has to deal with death threats and abuse online from Taliban supporters. In July last year, the OECD bloc of developed countries bestowed the White Ribbon Award on Bakhtari for defending the rights of women in Afghanistan. A month later, the Taliban introduced a series of new laws that escalated their policy of gender apartheid, effectively erasing women from public life.
More than three years after leading resistance against the Taliban, Bakhtari, who taught journalism at the Kabul University before joining the Afghan Foreign Ministry as Chief of Staff in 2007, is optimistic. “Our efforts have prevented international recognition of the Taliban regime,” beams Bakhtari, who became Afghan’s ambassador to the Nordic countries in 2009. “The Taliban won’t stay forever. They will be gone one day.”
Though no nation has recognised the Taliban government, many countries, including India, have held talks with the regime. In January this year, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met the Taliban’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai, the first high-level engagement with the Taliban since the fall of Kabul.
Raising resistance
Bakhtari, one of three daughters of well-respected Afghan poet Wasef Bakhtari, found herself on the side of those resisting fundamentalism early in her life following an arranged marriage at 19 to businessman Naser Hotaki. When her father published his new book of poetry in exile in the US, he dedicated it to her. “For my daughter, who is better than 100 sons,” read the dedication.
“Peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of justice,” Bakhtari is shown saying in the film, which she didn’t want to be made initially. “When I first approached her with the idea of a documentary on her, she said very diplomatically and politely, ‘No,'” recalls the film’s director Halla.
Produced by Golden Girls Film, a Vienna-based collective that also produced the 2025 documentary Girls & Gods, about a group of women in Europe and the US pushing back against power structures, The Last Ambassador exposes the enablers of the Taliban return, including America, which secretly signed the Doha Deal in 2020 with the Taliban paving the way for its return. For Afghans, it was a deal that ignored women’s rights to study and work, and the collective achievement of the previous two decades without the Taliban.
Halla, who convinced Bakhtari about the importance of making the film weeks after the Taliban takeover, shot the movie, which is in Dari language and English, for nearly three years following her in the embassy and outside. “I did not expect the embassy to continue work till even now,” says the filmmaker. “They receive no money from the Foreign Ministry in Afghanistan, so they survive how they can. For them it’s not about the money, but the importance of keeping the embassy open as a place of resistance against the Taliban. And a platform to advocate for the rights of women and girls.”
Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Austria is confronting the Taliban and fighting oppression of women in her country
In a rare twist of the calendar, the first day of the Afghan New Year, Nawruz, came in the last ten days of Ramadan. These are both joyous occasions. Yet, in this instalment of the Daily Hustle, Hamed Pakteen has visited Mandawi, the busy central market in the heart of Kabul, which is filled with traders and customers, the aroma of spices and fresh produce, to speak to a veteran wholesaler. He tells him how, for many families struggling to make ends meet, poverty and the rising cost of the basics, has taken the lustre off these special days. Trade is down. Yet, he still trusts in the future.
I’ve been a shopkeeper in Kabul’s Mandawai market for 20 years. It all began with a small shop I opened using money borrowed from friends and family. In those early days, I didn’t have the funds to keep my own stock and relied on the largess of wholesalers in the market who I borrowed goods from to sell. Gradually, I grew my small shop into a thriving dry goods store with a reputation for reasonable prices and quality products. I have a loyal customer base and have even hired several people to work for me.
Over the years, I’ve shared many ups and downs with my customers. Little boys and girls, who initially came to my shop with their parents to buy food for the house and provisions for the Eids, have since grown up, got married and have children of their own, who they now bring along when they come to my store. My story isn’t just about my personal success or how I grew my little shop into a successful wholesale business, it’s about my city and the community I’ve served for the past two decades. It’s the story of our shared journey through times of plenty and times of hardship.
Two overlapping holidays
We do most of our business during the three Eids: Eid al-Adha [the Feast of Sacrifice, which falls on the last days of the Islamic lunar year], Eid al-Fitr and Nawruz. This year, we have a double celebration, with Nawruz beginning in the ten days of Ramadan and overlapping with Eid al-Fitr.[1] As usual, business picked up during Ramadan, but unlike the years before Afghanistan’s government changed, people are more cautious in their spending. They come from far and wide to the Kabul Mandawi to buy the things they need because they get wholesale prices, so generally, things are cheaper. You can see all the crowds and the hustle and bustle in the market, but our sales don’t come anywhere near what they were in the years of the Republic. Back then, the economy was doing well and people had more disposable cash, so they were more likely to spend money freely and buy more things for the holiday. Now, with the economic downturn, people are struggling, most families are having trouble making ends meet. Some can’t even afford to buy bread, so, of course, they’re more careful with their spending when it comes to luxuries for Eid.
Afghanistan imports nearly everything, so fluctuations in the exchange rate directly affect food prices because we pay for our goods in US dollars, but our sales are in afghani. This year, the prices of things imported from Pakistan were even higher because the Torkham border crossing was closed for a couple of weeks. Also, people use much more foodstuffs during Ramadan, so the border closure meant that many things became either difficult to find or simply unavailable.
Almost everything costs more
My shop is doing better than many others because we sell food and people always need to eat. But people can’t afford to buy what they used to, and that’s hurting our sales. The prices of basic items like flour, rice and oil have gone up and on top of that, market prices are volatile because the afghani is not stable against the US dollar. When the afghani goes up, prices fall and when it drops, prices go up.
I had a look through my books so I can give you an idea of how much prices have gone up this year compared to 2021, when the Republic was still the government.[2] As you can see, everything costs a lot more, but, at the same time, people have lost their income or are making less money. The household maths just doesn’t add up.
Product
Price per kg in 2021
Current price per kg
% change
Kazakh flour (49 kg sack)
23.5 afghanis (USD .33)
29.6 afghanis (0.41)
+25.8
Malaysian oil (16 litre bottle)
81.25 afghanis (1.15)
112.5 afghanis (1.59)
+38.5
Indian sugar (49 kg sack)
41 afghanis (0.58)
51 afghanis (0.72)
+24
First-grade Pakistani rice (24 kg sack)
92 afghanis (1.30)
108 afghanis (1.52)
+17
African black tea (I kg)
400 afghanis (USD 5.6)
450 afghanis (USD 6.35)
+12.5
Indonesian green tea (1 kg)
350 afghanis (USD 4.93)
400 afghanis (USD 5.6)
+14
Table prepared by AAN based on the shopkeeper’s ledgers, 1 USD = 70.9 afghanis
The only exceptions to food costing more are locally produced products, like dried fruits, which are a staple food in all Afghan households. For example, a kilo of almonds, which sold for 800 afghanis (USD 11) in 2021, now costs 600 afghanis (USD 8.50) and the price of a kilo of raisins has fallen from 500 afghani (USD 7) to around 200 to 250 afghanis (USD 280 to 3.50) – that’s for the best quality raisins. But this doesn’t mean people are buying more dried fruits and nuts. There was so much demand for them in the past that we couldn’t get them into the shop fast enough. They used to fly out of the shop and, sometimes, there were even shortages. But people who used to buy almonds and raisins by the sackful are now limiting their purchases to a kilo or even a few grammes.
The same reluctance to buy in volume is true of other food. The Mandawi is a wholesale market, so people generally come here to buy in bulk. In the past, customers would buy flour and rice by the sackful. Now they’re buying in the kilogrammes. I have customers who used to buy several sacks of these food items for Eid, not only for their own households but also to distribute to the needy. Now, even these customers are only buying what they need in their own house – a ser (seven kilos) here and half a ser (3.5 kilo) there. This never used to happen during the Republic. Eid is supposed to be an occasion for celebration and a time to show generosity. But here in the Mandawi, we can tell how the poor economy has devastated even those families who have an income, making them unable or disinclined to spend more than they strictly need to.
The high cost of doing business
The vendor explained that these are difficult, uncertain times for all Afghans. Their shrinking purchasing power means they often have to do without. For shopkeepers, he said, domestic and international pressures have created unstable market conditions, making them reluctant to make big investments like keeping a large inventory:
The economy’s been hit hard by the end of foreign investment, and businesses are suffering from the flight of domestic capital out of the country. The IEA’s raised customs tariffs and introduced higher taxes, eating into our profit margins and pushing up our prices. As good businessmen – not to mention good Muslims – we don’t want to see our customers paying exorbitant prices for the basic necessities of life, but we are businessmen and the math has to make sense. Although the Emirate’s been promising to reduce taxes and tariffs on basic food items, this hasn’t translated into less money being paid to the taxman yet. They keep putting price caps on certain items, which means we’re having to forgo offering them for sale because the cost of having them in the shop often outstrips what we can charge for them.
The restrictions on banking have also made it more difficult for traders to buy product abroad. Since we can’t transfer funds using the banking system or open letters of credit, we have to resort to middlemen who charge steep fees to facilitate the transfer of funds and business transactions, but we have no choice but to use this route if we want to keep in business.
A time for reflection and hope for a brighter future
I wish I could say the future looked bright, but at the moment I’m not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. Still, this is Eid al-Fitr and Nawruz. They’re not just about visiting loved ones and eating good food. They’re also a time for reflection and the renewal of hope, a time to have hope in the future and trust in God’s plan. So while it’s difficult for me to see it, I have to trust that a better future is in the works, waiting just beyond the shadows.
Edited by Roxanna Shapour and Kate Clark
References
References
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The Islamic calendar, based on the moon, is about 10 days shorter than the Western and Persian/Afghan solar calendar, so Ramadan shifts each year. Nawruz, on the other hand always begins on the spring equinox, either 20 or 21 March. Because of the difference in the length of the two calendars, Ramadan and Nawruz periodically overlap, as they have done this year. In Afghanistan, Nawruz is usually celebrated for three days, with an extra event on the 13th day of the new year known as Sizde Bedar. This year, it falls on 2 April – during the three days of Eid al-Fitr. Both Nawruz and the Eids are typically celebrated with family visits, gifts to children and special food.
Under a draconian policy, the Pakistan government has pledged to deport millions of Afghan nationals, after relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan severely deteriorated and attacks by militants in the border areas surged.
Pakistan government ministers have accused Afghans of being “terrorists” and “traitors” who are fuelling crime and militancy in the country.
Pakistan began deportations of Afghan refugees in September 2023. According to a recent report by Amnesty International, so far at least 844,499 Afghan nationals have been forcibly deported back to Afghanistan where they are at “real risk of persecution by the Taliban”.Among those facing the threat of returning to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan are 60 female activists and human rights defenders, who fled persecution after they spoke out for women’s rights and education or attended protests. Many have been forced into hiding in recent weeks, as police have been going door-to-door in the cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, arbitrarily arresting any Afghans and allegedly demanding huge bribes.
Humaira Alim worked as a women’s rights and education activist in Afghanistan for seven years before the Taliban came back to power in 2021. After women were deprived of the right to work and then attend university under the group’s strict Islamic rule, she was among a group of women who defied the Taliban and helped organise protests on the streets.
But after facing “dire warnings” and then direct threats to her life from the Taliban for her activism when pregnant with her first child, Alim said she had “no choice” but to flee over the border to Pakistan in December 2022.
She has stayed in Islamabad ever since, living with her two young children on a visa that has been given monthly. Alim described her situation as an “awful nightmare”, as all Afghan nationals – even those who had lived in Pakistan for decades – were now facing routine persecution and harassment from the police. She and her children were recently forced to hide on the roof of their home as officers came looking for them.
“If they send me back to Afghanistan, it only means death,” she said. “The Taliban have records on me and my activism. There is no place for women like me. They only arrest and torture us. I can’t go back there with my children.”
Alim said she knew dozens of other Afghan women like her, who had worked as activists, lawyers and human rights defenders and faced harassment or torture at the hands of the Taliban, who were now in hiding in Pakistan.
Liliana Harrington, senior campaigner for Avaaz, an organisation that has been advocating for the women, said: “Deporting these people to the Taliban is a death sentence. Pakistan would not only abandon these brave people to their oppressors but also abandon its proud legacy of protecting vulnerable Afghans.”
The Pakistan government has given all undocumented Afghan nationals a deadline of 31 March to leave the country, otherwise they will be arrested. Alim said she and other female activists were just asking for more time, to find a third country who might be able to offer them asylum. Currently, they are waiting to see if they get an offer from Brazil or if other countries will offer them a safe haven.
The widespread expulsion drew condemnation from Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for south Asia. “The Pakistani authorities are violating the rights of Afghan refugees with impunity, subjecting them to arbitrary decisions that are shrouded in secrecy, totally lacking transparency and accountability,” she said.
‘It means death’: Afghan women’s rights activists face deportation from Pakistan
“There is no need for laws that originate from the West. We will create our own laws,” Akhundzada said, speaking in Pashto, while emphasizing the importance of Islamic laws.
The Taliban’s interpretation of sharia has led to bans on Afghan women and girls, who have been excluded them from education, many jobs and most public spaces. Such measures have isolated the Taliban on the world stage, although they have established diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.
Akhundzada has taken a stronger hand in directing policy since the Taliban seized control of the country in 2021, despite some officials initially promising a more moderate rule.
Akhundzada on Sunday criticized the West, saying non-believers had united against Muslims and that the U.S. and others were united in their hostility toward Islam, citing the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Democracy had come to an end in Afghanistan and sharia was in effect, he said, adding that supporters of democracy were trying to separate the people from the Taliban government.
The Taliban have no credible opposition inside or outside the country, but some senior figures within the administration have criticized the leadership’s decision-making process and concentration of power in Akhundzada’s circle.
Some Taliban want greater engagement with the international community and scrapping harsher policies to attract more outside support. In recent months, however, there has been increased engagement between the Taliban and the U.S. under President Donald Trump, mostly because of prisoner exchanges and releases.
The Taliban leader says there is no need for Western laws in Afghanistan
Teenage musicians Yasemin, Zakia and Shukriya and Uzra, just 7, fled the repression of women in Afghanistan. Will a Trump order and Pakistan send them back?
Islamabad, Pakistan – On a pleasant February afternoon in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, the sound of strumming guitars fills a small bedroom in a two-storey home that houses tenants from neighbouring Afghanistan.
A flight of slippery marble stairs leads to the room on the first floor, where the bright rays of the sun enter through the window and bounce off the musical instruments, which belong to four young guitarists.
These guitarists – 18-year-old Yasemin aka Jellybean, 16-year-old Zakia, 14-year-old Shukriya, and seven-year-old Uzra – are Afghan refugees who, with their families, fled the country after the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Yasemin and Uzra are sisters, as are Zakiya and Shukriya. This is where Yasemin and Uzra are now living with their family.
The bedroom is where the girls spend hours at a stretch practicing and jamming from Saturday to Thursday. Friday is their weekly day off.
On the day Al Jazeera visits, the girls are busy tuning their guitars. They tease one another as they strum squeaky, off-key chords in between.
Dressed in a grey sweatshirt, her head covered with a black scarf, Yasemin is the group’s lead guitarist and a fan of Blues legend BB King and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. “I really want to see and produce music with him,” says Yasemin on her dream to meet Gilmour, before crooning a track by King.
As she tunes her sturdy wooden guitar with her dependable red pick, Yasemin turns towards her bandmates and guides them in adjusting theirs.
The girls learned to play the guitar at Miraculous Love Kids, a music school for children in Kabul set up in 2016 by Lanny Cordola, a rock musician from California. The girls, whose first language is Dari, also learned to speak basic English from Cordola in Kabul, where they attended regular school as well.
Their world was turned upside down when the Taliban re-took power on August 15, 2021, after 20 years. The girls were afraid to step outside their homes following a spate of restrictions imposed on women. Cordola, who left Kabul for Islamabad the day the Taliban returned to power, began hatching plans to pluck his students and their families out of Afghanistan so the girls could continue to pursue their music dreams.
After months of lobbying donors for funding and negotiating with agents who promised to help the families escape, Cordola finally managed to get seven of his students out, to Islamabad, in April 2022. Even as he continued to teach them there, Cordola worked towards eventually resettling them and their families in the United States, which had announced a programme to take in Afghan allies and refugees who wanted to flee Taliban rule.
Three of the seven girls were relocated to the US over the past few months. Yasemin, Zakia, Shukriya and Uzra – and their families – were supposed to fly on February 5.
“It felt like we had everything in place. They [the US government] did all their medical tests, vetting, screening and interviews. We had the date,” says Cordola.
Then Donald Trump took office.
Almost immediately, Trump issued a series of executive orders, including one that suspended all refugee programmes for 90 days. “Now, it is all new again,” Cordola says, adding that the “devastating” move has postponed the relocation plans “indefinitely”.
But things would get even worse.
On March 7, the Pakistani government announced its own plans to deport all Afghan nationals, even those with proper documentation, back to their country by June 30.
For those Afghan refugees hoping to relocate to a Western country – like Yasemin, Zakia, Shukriya and Uzra – the deadline to leave Pakistan is even more imminent: Islamabad has said it will begin deporting them on April 1.
‘Girl with a guitar’
To gather at Yasemin and Uzra’s house for practice, Cordola picks Zakia and Shukirya up in a van from their home a few blocks away.
“We practise for about three to four hours,” says Cordola.
In a floral lilac dress and a white headscarf, Zakia’s slender fingers hit the chords on her guitar, which bears her initial, Z. She taps her feet to match the rhythm – Chris Martin of Coldplay is her favourite musician.
Her younger sister, Shukriya, sporting a double braid with two strands of hair resting on her rosy cheeks, is fond of American musician Dave Matthews, but also has a soft spot for South Korean band BTS and its singer, RM.
“RM is my favourite. I like his dancing and rapping… it’s beautiful,” says Shukriya, as her teacher, Cordola, shakes his head in disbelief – and gentle disapproval.
Uzra, Yasemin’s younger sister, wears a lime-coloured sport watch on her left wrist, a sequinned teddy bear sweatshirt and black, patterned trousers, as she grips her smaller guitar. She struggles to climb on to the chair, then breaks into soft, husky vocals. “She is a normal seven-year-old in a lot of ways. But when she is in the studio, she is very, very focused. I can’t joke with her when she is in there,” says Cordola about his youngest student.
Then Cordola joins them in the jam session, strumming his black guitar. The girls nod in tandem and break into “Girl with a Guitar”, their own original, instrumental song.
Practice ends at 1pm, and the girls go about the rest of their day – having lunch, praying, helping their mothers with chores and spending time with their families.
Uzra, Yasemin says, is friends with the neighbours’ child, and always finds ways to step out of the house to play with her. Almost on cue, the little guitarist dashes out of the room.
Turning ‘Unstoppable’
On days when the girls manage to find some leisure time for themselves while the sun is still out, they and their siblings visit Islamabad’s parks and amusement spaces with their teacher.
Cordola picks them up in his white Suzuki high roof, and they head out to the popular picnic spot Daman-e-Koh in the Margalla Hills or a tourist favourite, Pakistan Monument on the Shakarparian Hills.
The green F-9 Park is also a favourite. There, Zakia sits on its fresh, dewy grass while Uzra enjoys swaying to and fro on the swings. Shukriya is dreaming of visiting a nearby food street, where she’s hoping for a treat – pani puri, soup, ice cream and the classic samosa. Yasemin says she’s a fan of rice and loves eating daal chawal (lentils with rice). To Zakia, chicken biryani and pani puri are the best food that Pakistan has to offer.
But music is what makes the girls happiest – and is what made it possible for them to connect with multiple Grammy-nominated Australian singer and songwriter Sia.
After they recorded a rendition of her female empowerment anthem, Unstoppable, in 2024, the Aussie vocalist sent the girls a special message praising their talent.
“Thank you so much for singing ‘Unstoppable’ and for your support. I love you so much. I love you so much. I really feel for what you’re going through,” she said in a video message to the girls.
The video of Sia’s track is shot with the girls singing against the backdrop of lush green parks and atop the Shakarparian Hills. The music was recorded at the studio of Pakistani record producer Sarmad Ghafoor, a friend of Cordola’s. The song was released on March 18.
At the time they recorded the song, three girls from Cordola’s Kabul school who have now moved to the US were also with Yasemin, Zakia, Shukriya and Uzra in Islamabad.
“We had to change our costumes in between the shoot and it was challenging to do it at the locations, but we managed to do it by covering up for each other and also having fun the whole time,” recalls Shukriya.
When Sia reacted to their performance in a video message for them, the girls couldn’t believe it.
“She is someone who didn’t need to make a video for us, but she did. She is a really kind and inspirational woman,” says Yasemin. “She spoke with her heart and gave us a lot of hope. Sometimes we lose hope and think that we won’t be able to do what we want to do in life. But her powerful words really inspired and motivated us.”
Selling candy to strumming a guitar
Nothing about Yasemin’s life today resembles what it did seven years ago, when she first met Cordola.
At his school, Cordola “wanted to focus on girls’ education and rights”, he says. “It’s education through the arts.” He convinced the parents of several children who worked on the streets, especially those of girls, to allow them at his music school.
He first met Yasemin at a park where she sold candy and chewing gum, while her father washed cars nearby.
“I was 11 years old when I first met Mr Lanny in 2017,” Yasemin recalls. “I first saw Mr Lanny in the park with a lot of children. At the time, I did not talk to him because I was very shy and also afraid of seeing people gathered in one place. The fear of an explosion in such a space was always in my mind.”
Eventually, Cordola reached out to her through another girl, gave her 150 Afghanis ($2.11) and asked her to visit the music school with her father. “I was hesitant at first, but a friend named Yalda was already going to the school, so I went to Miraculous with her. When I held the guitar for the first time there, it felt zabardast (awesome),” she recalls.
Yasemin’s father initially didn’t want her to join the music school, worried about how it would be viewed in the conservative Afghan society. “But later when he got familiar with Mr Lanny, he agreed to it,” she says.
Cordola recalls that Yasemin’s father gave in when he learned that his daughter would not need to work in the park any more. “I gave a monthly stipend to the children who did well at the school,” he says.
Fauzia, Yasemin and Uzra’s mother, was happy when her daughter began studying music. “I felt good because [through the guitar] she [Yasemin] wanted to depend on herself for her future. Now, I feel proud that she is not only doing this for herself but also for those who need support.”
She was nicknamed Jellybean by Cordola after being confused with another girl with the same name at the Kabul school. “When Mr Lanny called our name ‘Yasemin’, both of us would respond to him. This caused a lot of confusion,” she chuckles.
In the same neighbourhood in which Yasemin and her father worked, Zakia and her father used to sell sunflower seeds. Cordola gave Zakia a visiting card and told her to visit the music school with her father, 52-year-old Muhammad Sabir.
“The next day, I went there with my father to Miraculous. There, I saw the guitars and other girls playing it. I really liked it. Initially, my mother didn’t allow me because she was sceptical and scared about Mr Lanny. But I insisted on trying my luck. After I went there, I began practising the guitar and drawing, and never went back to the hill to work again,” says Zakia.
Shukriya, who first visited the school with her elder sibling out of curiosity, was so fascinated by the guitars that she too soon joined Cordola’s growing class.
Their father, Cordola recalls, was excited at the idea of sending his daughters to his music school. “Zakia’s father was smiling when I first met him. He asked, ‘Can we come now?’ But I told him to come the next day. He came the next day and said, ‘this is great.’”
A tall Sabir smiles as he recalls that time. Sitting at his residence in Islamabad, he says he was “happy for the children and supported them to play the guitar”.
“I liked music myself before I even met Mr Lanny,” says Sabir. “When the opportunity came, I didn’t want my daughters to lose it. It was for their better future.”
It all changed with the Taliban’s return.
Suddenly, the girls were afraid to leave their homes following a spate of restrictions imposed on women. “When the situation in Afghanistan worsened, I told the girls not to use it (the guitar). The Taliban don’t allow music and consider it haram (forbidden). I hid Shukriya’s small guitar and broke Zakia’s because it was bigger,” says Sabir.
Yasemin recalls one time when she stepped out to go to the bazaar.
“I wasn’t wearing a mask and the Taliban pointed a gun at me asking me to wear it right there and then,” she says, referring to a face veil. “It was really hard, especially for women in Afghanistan.”
Cordola, meanwhile, worked with donors to raise money to get passports made for the families of his students, and to hire guides to bring them to the border – and then across into Pakistan.
After many false starts, the seven girls and their families finally made it to Pakistan in April 2022. Today, Cordola funds their rent, expenses – and the girls’ guitars – through donations.
But all of those efforts now appear at risk.
In recent years, Pakistan has stepped up its deportation of Afghan refugees – some of whom have spent most or all of their lives in Pakistan.
Pakistan deported 842,429 Afghan refugees, per the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), between September 2023 and February 2025.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about 40,000 Afghans in Pakistan await resettlement after “almost 80,000” were welcomed by different countries. At least 10,000 to 15,000 among the refugees still in Pakistan were cleared for resettlement in the US, according to #AfghanEvac, a coalition of US veterans and advocacy groups, before Trump blocked their move.
Philippa Candler, the country representative of the UNHCR, in a statement said: “Forced return to Afghanistan could place some people at increased risk. We urge Pakistan to continue to provide safety to Afghans at risk, irrespective of their documentation status.”
Shawn VanDiver, who heads #AfghanEvac, stresses the need for the US government to fulfil its promises. “Our national commitments cannot be conditional and temporary. Countries around the world are never going to trust the word of the US if our presidents can’t be counted on to carry out the commitments they have made,” he says. “This is just outrageous.”
He also has an appeal to the government of Pakistan.
“The 90-day mark [when Trump’s pause on refugee resettlement ends] is around April, so we would like Pakistan to give them [Afghans] a little bit of extra time. We hope they will but we haven’t gotten any positive indications through action, only words. All the action we’re seeing is negative,” says VanDiver.
“If nothing changes these people [Afghans] are in real trouble.”
Asmat Ullah Shah, the Pakistan government’s chief commissioner for Afghan refugees in Islamabad, says Afghan nationals awaiting resettlement hold no legal status as per Pakistani law.
But, he insists, authorities have not taken any action against them because embassies and international organisations have committed to moving them to other countries.
“When problems began to increase, affecting Pakistan’s security, a timeframe was set for these embassies to fulfil their commitments and ensure resettlement. But, some have evaded their promises,” he says.
While a court has given relief until the end of June to some Afghan refugees in Pakistan, that doesn’t cover the four guitarist girls and their families, who don’t have the documentation needed for that temporary reprieve.
Saeed Husain, a founding member of the Joint Action Committee for Refugees (JAC-R), an advocacy platform for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, blames the crisis on Western countries that had promised to take in Afghan refugees but haven’t processed applications of those still in limbo in countries like Pakistan.
“Their lives have been on pause for the last four years. They haven’t been able to get an education or find jobs,” he says, adding that Pakistan’s move to now send these refugees “back to Afghanistan is essentially giving them a death sentence”.
A letter to Trump
When they learned about Trump’s pause on refugee entries, and then Pakistan’s plans to deport Afghans, the girls say they couldn’t believe the news.
“We had been disappointed many times after getting hopes of going abroad. We’d be waiting to hear good news, but would then find out that it can’t happen,” Yasemin says. “But the recent news was still very shocking to us.”
The girls and their families know that going back to Afghanistan would likely mean giving up on music for good.
Zakia says she wants to become a professional guitarist. She’s still sad about her father breaking her earlier guitar out of fear it would be found by the Taliban. “That night was very hard for me. I cried a lot,” she says. But after arriving in Pakistan, all the girls received new guitars from their teacher.
Meanwhile, Shukriya misses going to the music school back home. “I miss the time in Kabul when we played together, talked (to our friends) after practice and ate together,” she says, recalling what she knows she won’t be able to relive if she were to return to Kabul now.
But Cordola and the girls refuse to give up.
The teacher has been reaching out to musicians and people with contacts in the US government to make the relocation possible.
“I am sending out messages to people who can perhaps contact the upper echelons in the American government. The girls have collaborated with some of the most well-known musicians in the US and UK. We are not looking for extra favours, but to get them opportunities,” he says.
Cordola says he has also written an open letter to Trump on behalf of the young musicians, urging the US president to allow them into the country.
In his letter, the musician wrote that if the girls are denied the chance to resettle to the US, they will be deported back to Afghanistan, where they will be at risk of being subjected to “imprisonment, and even punishment by death”.
“They are ready to assimilate and contribute. They are not there to take. They want to be a part of the American dream,” he says. “We are willing to go and play a little concert for President Trump if he would be interested.”
The girls, Cordola adds, could also be relocated to other countries that are “willing to welcome them and provide legal and safe residence”, adding that a leading advocate for female Afghan musicians is interested in relocating them to Northern Ireland’s Belfast, a UNESCO-recognised city for its music.
Most of all, the girls just want to stay together – in whichever part of the world will have them.
“When I’m out of here, it is my dream for all the girls to come together and stand strong on our feet. I can’t do it alone. When all of us girls come together with Mr Lanny at the same place, we will do something,” says Yasemin.
Fauzia, Yasemin and Uzra’s mother, says she is grateful to Pakistan for hosting them. But she knows that the family’s future hinges on Western governments giving them sanctuary soon. “Our lives were at risk in Afghanistan and even in Pakistan there is no peace. Whether it is the US or any other government, we request help for those whose lives are in danger,” she says.
Until then, the girls have their guitars, their music and their dreams to live with.
“Whenever I’m sad, I hold my guitar and forget all of the sadness,” says Yasemin. “It has changed my life.”
Source: Al Jazeera
Four Afghan girl guitarists escaped the Taliban. Will they be forced back?
Students at the American University of Afghanistan in Qatar fear having to return to their Taliban-ruled homeland after aid and visa cutoffs by the Trump administration.
When she finds it hard to focus, Nilab jots down her worries on slips of paper and pins them to her wall, a strategy she picked up in a seminar on mental health at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul.
She makes a mental note to deal with the issues at a scheduled time and then gets back to studying. That kept her sane when the U.S.-backed Afghan government was overthrown in 2021, when the Taliban made it illegal for women to receive an education and when she left in July 2023 to study at the university’s campus-in-exile in Qatar.
Now, in Nilab’s dorm room in Doha, the little notes are stacking up. The Trump administration’s shutdown of foreign aid and refugee admissions has left her terrified that she will be forced to return to Afghanistan.
There, she would be alone and deprived of any rights as a woman. Her hard-earned American-style education would be all but worthless.
She imagines the worst. “How can girls go back to Afghanistan?” said Nilab, 30, who asked that only her first name be used to protect her identity. “What will happen to us? Rape, forced marriage and death.”
On Jan. 20, just as Nilab was planning her final project for her cybersecurity degree, President Trump signed an executive order suspending refugee resettlement. The U.S. government had promised refugee status for her and her classmates, but Nilab’s hopes of rejoining her family, who received asylum in the United States after the Taliban took over, were shattered.
A month later, her university lost most of its funding when Mr. Trump dismantled American foreign aid programs, to reorient spending in line with the administration’s foreign policy goals. Funding was partly restored on March 16, the university’s leadership said, but only enough to operate into June. If the university closes, students will lose their housing, cafeteria meal plans and Qatari student visas.
A third thunderbolt came on March 15, with word that Mr. Trump was considering putting Afghanistan on a list of countries whose citizens would be barred from entering the United States. Nilab does not know when she will ever see her family again, much less resettle with them.
As she and other Afghan students find their lives thrown into chaos, they are caught between the infinite possibilities promised by a university education and a crushing sense that there are no doors left to open.
“I thought this long journey was finished,” she said. “I was wrong.”
With midterms approaching, Nilab has little time for her concerns. She has a presentation on arrays and algorithms due soon.
So she writes down her fears and pins them to her bulletin board.
Piece of America
The American University of Afghanistan was established in 2006 as a coed liberal arts college, with instruction in English. It was designed to educate the next generation of Afghan leaders and innovators, imbued with Western ideals of justice, freedom and democracy. Students called their campus “Little America.”
The U.S. government has invested more than $100 million in the university, and until last month, funding from the United States Agency for International Development, or U.S.A.I.D., covered more than half of its operating costs.
(The agency has also provided scholarships for more than 100 Afghan women — including Nilab’s sister — to study at universities in Oman and Qatar, among them the American University, and those students face a similar budget freeze.)
When the American military hastily withdrew from the country in August 2021 and the Taliban returned to power, the American University was an obvious target. Militants rampaged through its buildings, scrawling graffiti that derided students as “U.S.-trained infidel spies” and “wolves in sheep’s skin.”
Administrators worked to get more than 1,000 students out of the country as quickly as possible. Nearly 700 were evacuated to sister universities in Iraq, Kyrgyzstan and the United States.
The government of Qatar agreed to host a temporary campus-in-exile. One hundred students arrived for the term starting in August 2022, and another 100 — Nilab’s group — landed a year later.
Most of the students eventually left for the United States on so-called Priority 1 visas. When Mr. Trump took office in January, the remaining 35 were waiting for
They now wander the near-empty halls of their temporary campus in a stunned daze, not knowing what will happen next.
“We thought all our traumas were finally coming to an end, so we could start to breathe again,” said Waheeda Babakarkhail, 23, a programmer who dreams of working as a white hat hacker, testing computer programs for security flaws.
“I had accepted that I couldn’t stay in Afghanistan,” she said, “but now even the future I thought I would have has been lost.”
Aspirations have been derailed across the campus. Abbas Ahmadzai, 24, a business major, had a job in event management lined up in New York. Faisel Popalzai, 23, was hoping to get a job at Microsoft. He developed an A.I.-assisted computer program that can identify potentially fraudulent financial transactions. The app, called Hawks.Ai, won the Microsoft Hackathon last year in Doha.
If pathways to the United States are cut, Mr. Popalzai said, the country will lose a valuable investment: “our minds, paid for by the American people.”
Sense of Dread
If the university is forced to close in June, the students face an alarming prospect.
They will lose their student visas and their right to stay in Qatar within weeks. If they cannot find a Qatari employer to sponsor them, or obtain a job or scholarship offer in another country, they will have to return to Afghanistan.
They are keenly aware that “the way we were educated is in contradiction to everything the Taliban represent,” said Hashmatullah Rahimi, 24, a business major. “We were taught to speak freely, to be independent. Not a single person in the Taliban government wants that.”
The university’s administrators say there has been no documented persecution of its graduates since the Taliban takeover. But students fear they would be viewed as a threat.
“If we go back,” Mr. Popalzai said, “they will label us as spies, sent to infect Afghans against the Taliban with our American ideology.”
For female students, the risks are obvious. The Taliban have banned education for women and girls after sixth grade and barred women from most forms of employment. They cannot travel without a male relative, they are required to cover their faces outside the home, and their voices must not be heard in public.
“Maybe we won’t be killed if we go back,” said Rawina Amiri, 24, a business major who dreams of becoming a professional volleyball player.
“Does that mean we should accept having our rights violated?” she added. “We have the right to learn, to contribute, to work. Do people in the United States expect us to give up those rights because the Americans promised us a visa, then changed their mind?”
Nilab remains in limbo in the U.S. visa process. On Tuesday, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that the Trump administration must admit thousands of people granted refugee status before Jan. 20, which could include several of the university’s students. But the ruling is preliminary and could be reversed.
What has really thrown Nilab for a loop is the potential for Afghans to be included in a travel ban.
She has not seen her parents and younger siblings since they moved to Northern Virginia. They were granted asylum because her parents had worked for the U.S. government in Afghanistan. But because she was an adult, she was not eligible to join them.
Nilab tries to hold on to hope, relying on the coping skills she picked up as a freshman four years ago. She is applying for scholarships in Europe even as she studies for her exams.
“The Quran says that when one door is shut, another opens,” she said. “But if you don’t knock, the doors won’t open.”
‘They Will Label Us as Spies’: The Afghan Students Abandoned by America
Canadian citizens born in Afghanistan and Iran are facing U.S. entry bans due to stricter border policies under Trump’s administration.
According to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, some Canadian citizens born in Iran and Afghanistan have faced denial of entry to the United States after undergoing intense questioning at the border. This development is linked to the stricter immigration policies introduced by the Trump administration.
Immigration lawyers and consultants have voiced concerns over these incidents, urging the Canadian government to issue a travel advisory. They warn that Canadian citizens may face not only entry bans but also the cancellation of visas, Nexus cards, and potential detentions or deportations when attempting to enter the U.S.
The increased scrutiny at the U.S. border comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, which enforces tighter examination of foreign nationals. Although official statistics on the number of Canadian citizens denied entry are not yet available, lawyers confirmed that the frequency of these incidents has risen since the executive order was signed.
According to the The New York Times and Reuters reported, cited their sources, that the Trump administration is considering expanding travel restrictions on citizens from several countries, including Iran. If this policy is implemented, citizens from specific countries could be entirely banned from entering the United States.
A proposed list prepared by U.S. diplomatic and security officials divides countries into three categories based on the severity of the travel restrictions. The “Red List” includes 11 countries, such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Syria, whose citizens could face a complete ban from entering the U.S.
Countries on the “Orange List,” such as Belarus, Eritrea, and Russia, would face severe travel restrictions, though entry would not be fully prohibited. For citizens from these countries, obtaining visas or other permits might become more difficult, and a personal interview would likely be required.
The “Yellow List” consists of 22 countries, including Angola, Mali, and Zimbabwe. These nations will be given 60 days to address any deficiencies in their travel documentation and procedures. If the issues are not corrected, these countries may be moved to the “Red” or “Orange” categories.
Legal experts such as Melissa Bibel and Yamina Ansari have confirmed that even Canadian residents, whether temporary or permanent, are not immune to these restrictions. Both lawyers stress that Canadian travelers, particularly those with ties to the countries listed, should be aware of the potential consequences when attempting to enter the U.S.
The heightened border scrutiny between Canada and the U.S. is a significant development for travelers, particularly those with origins in specific countries like Iran and Afghanistan. Canadian citizens and residents may now face more challenges when crossing the U.S. border, making it crucial to stay informed about the latest restrictions and travel advisories.
US denies entry to Canadian citizens born in Afghanistan and Iran
Abdul Qahar Balkhi stated that the military equipment left by the US in Afghanistan will not be returned under any circumstances.
The spokesperson of the Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, responded to recent comments by US President Donald Trump regarding military equipment left behind in Afghanistan. Balkhi stated that the remaining US weapons in Afghanistan now belong to the Taliban and will not be returned. He also emphasized that the Taliban would be open to American companies investing in Afghanistan’s mineral wealth.
Balkhi suggested that for improved relations, the US could invest in Afghanistan’s untapped mineral resources. He reiterated that the country’s rich natural wealth is open to American investment. This statement comes amidst ongoing tensions surrounding the US military’s withdrawal and the equipment left behind.
President Trump, in a meeting on March 28, criticized President Biden for allocating billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Afghanistan. He also expressed anger over seeing the Taliban’s military parade using US weapons. Trump hinted that the US may demand the return of these military assets, though stated that the equipment may be outdated.
The Taliban, on the other hand, views the leftover US military equipment as war spoils and insists that they will not return them.
US concerns over Taliban access to US-made weapons have led to regional security fears, especially about the potential use of these weapons by groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Despite these concerns, Taliban officials have stated that they do not need US cooperation to fight ISIS, further complicating the relationship between the two sides.
The Taliban’s stance on US military equipment and their willingness to engage in economic cooperation over Afghanistan’s mineral wealth represents a shift in their approach to foreign relations.
Meanwhile, the US remains focused on security concerns, the Taliban’s offer to engage economically could provide a new avenue for future dialogue. This developing situation underscores the complex and evolving nature of US-Taliban relations.
US Military equipment left in Afghanistan will not be returned: Abdul Qahar Balkhi
This American citizen, named Faye Hall, is now under the supervision of the United States’ Qatari allies in Kabul, according to Zalmay Khalilzad.
The former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation has announced that an American citizen imprisoned in Afghanistan Faye Hall has been released by the Islamic Emirate.
This American citizen, named Faye Hall, is now under the supervision of the United States’ Qatari allies in Kabul, according to Zalmay Khalilzad.
Faye Hall, released American citizen: “Mr. President, I voted for you twice. I’m so glad you’re in the office. It’s the new era and in this situation, I’m glad you’re the president. And thank you for bringing me home. And I’ve never been so proud to be an American citizen.”
Yesterday, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, announced the release of this American prisoner and added that he is currently with the US’s Qatari friends in Kabul and will soon return home.
Saleem Paigir, political analyst, said: “The Islamic Emirate should strive to make decisions regarding their prisoners. I believe the Americans will also take steps toward Afghanistan.”
Edrees Mohammadi Zazai, political analyst, said: “The embassy’s operations will not begin just with the release of this prisoner, but there is hope that such policies by the Islamic Emirate may prompt the US to find points of engagement in its future policies.”
Although the Islamic Emirate has yet to comment on this American’s release, earlier two American citizens named Ryan Corbett and George Glezmann were also released by the Islamic Emirate as a gesture of “goodwill” toward the United States.
American Citizen Faye Hall Released by Islamic Emirate
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
