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

• 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.