'Saw Taliban around my home': How Afghan women's basketball star escaped

Published on Aug 24, 2021 07:06 pm IST

Afghanistan's wheelchair basketball team captain Nilofar Bayat, who had fled for life, has spoken up. Bayat fled from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over, seeking safety in Spain. The 28-year-old athlete, also a women's rights activist, hopes to soon be back on the court. Nilofar Bayat spoke of her struggle to get out of Kabul just days after reaching Spain. “When I saw the Taliban around my home, I was scared. I started to think about myself & my family. I told my friend to ask Spain to help me save myself and not allow the Taliban to kill me,” she said. “I’ve been in too many videos & spoken about Taliban, about all I've done in basketball and working for women's rights in Afghanistan,” the athlete added. Bayat further said that Talibans were shooting around & beating people. Since the Taliban takeover, a global refugee crisis is unfolding in the war-torn country. The insurgent group swept into Kabul on August 15 & is poised to form the next government.

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