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Malala Yousafzai says shocked, deeply worried for women as Taliban seize Kabul
The rights activist further called for urgent humanitarian aid and protection of refugees and civilians as the militant Islamist outfit entered the panic-gripped capital city of Kabul.
Activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai on Sunday expressed her shock and horror at the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban. Stating that she was deeply worried about women, minorities and human rights advocates living in the war-torn country, Yousafzai urged global, regional and local powers to call for an immediate ceasefire. The rights activist further called for urgent humanitarian aid and protection of refugees and civilians as the militant Islamist outfit entered the panic-gripped capital city of Kabul signalling an end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan.
Earlier in the day, the Taliban said they respected women's rights. Women will be “allowed” to leave homes alone and they will have access to education and work, but they will have to wear the hijab, a Taliban spokesperson told Reuters.
Born in Pakistan in 1997, Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman at the age of 15 on her way back home from school in the Swat District. She was targeted for speaking out about the plight of girls in her region, who were banned from going to school by the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans, fearing the Taliban could reimpose the kind of brutal rule that all but eliminated women’s rights, rushed to leave the country, lining up at cash machines to withdraw their life savings. The desperately poor — who had left homes in the countryside for the presumed safety of the capital — remained in their thousands in parks and open spaces throughout the city.
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The country’s embattled president, Ashraf Ghani, also left the country, joining his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede even as the Islamic outfit called for peaceful transition of power and tried to calm residents of the capital, insisting their fighters would not enter people’s homes or interfere with businesses. They also said they would offer an “amnesty” to those who worked with the Afghan government or foreign forces.
“No one’s life, property and dignity will be harmed and the lives of the citizens of Kabul will not be at risk,” the insurgents said in a statement.
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But there have been reports of revenge killings and other brutal tactics in areas of the country the Taliban have seized in recent days. One female journalist, weeping, sent voice messages to colleagues after armed men entered her apartment building and banged on her door.
“What should I do? Should I call the police or Taliban?” Getee Azami cried. It was not clear what happened to her after that.
Many chose to flee, rushing to the Kabul airport, the last route out of the country as the Taliban now hold every border crossing. NATO said it was “helping to maintain operations at Kabul airport to keep Afghanistan connected with the world.”
The US. Embassy in Kabul later suspended all operations and told Americans to shelter in place, saying it has received reports of gunfire at the international airport.
(With agency inputs)
