Millad Rashidi escaped Afghanistan and the Taliban as a child, eventually ending up in New Zealand a few years later as a 13-year-old refugee.
Now 19, he’s watching the fall of the Afghan Government from overseas while his grandparents, cousins and friends are stuck in the capital Kabul. Rashidi isn’t able to get in contact with them.
He’s scared of what life in Afghanistan would be like under Taliban rule, despite the fundamentalist group claiming it was now more moderate . So far, in the capital, there’s been a sense of calm with quiet city streets and minimal reports of looting and armed fighters on patrol.
Professor Robert Patman is concerned the strides made for women in particular could be stripped away. (Source: Other)
Rashidi said he didn’t believe the claim “at all”.
“These are the same people who have the blood of millions of Afghans on their hands. … These people are the same people that plan terrorist attacks, taking lives of millions of children and women,” he said.
“These are the same Taliban that attacked Kabul University . … These are the same Taliban that shot [Nobel Peace Prize laureate] Malala [Yousafzai] on the face just because she wanted to pursue an education.”
He added: “These are the same Taliban that caused millions of Afghans to seek refuge in other countries, including myself.”
On Monday, Taliban fighters entered Kabul and declared victory.
It sparked panic at Kabul’s international airport where many countries were evacuating their citizens and staff. (Source: Other)
Rashidi believed they weren’t going to be welcomed by many.
“How do you ask people of Afghanistan to accept them as a Government and look up to them as leaders when they have killed our children, our women, abused our children sexually and force [marriage on them]?
“These people have done horrible things to the people of Afghanistan. How do you expect them to accept them as leaders?”
The takeover happened at such a pace that the US and its allies said it caught them off guard . Former Prime Minister Helen Clark called the situation " a catastrophic failure of intelligence in Western foreign policy ".
It was important to remember that it was Western powers financed and armed the Mujahideen in a fight against the USSR, Rashidi said.
Some of the most devout of the Mujahideen, many from outside Afghanistan, eventually formed a large part of the Taliban in 1994.
“In the past 20 years, they have been fighting the monster they have created themselves in the beginning,” Rashidi said.
“It’s just 20 years of sacrifice gone to nothing.”
Ten New Zealand troops lost their lives in Afghanistan.
World Vision is collecting donations for Afghan children affected by the unrest, and UNICEF New Zealand is setting up an emergency relief fund.
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