(This is the latest in an ongoing series of confidential conversations I am having with a friend in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, about life there since the Taliban took power in August 2021.)
Dear David:
A few days ago, when my brother and his girlfriend left the house at 9 am, three men robbed them at gunpoint. They took their phones and their money. Although there were many people about, no one came to their defense or intervened in any way.
Since the Taliban came to power, such crimes happen every day. Especially those of us who are members of ethnic minorities have no security in our lives – no financial security, no job security, and no emotional security. There also are no authorities we can go to for help.
The Taliban treat the rest of us as if they hold no value for human life, that no individual human life or death holds any significance. For example, on September 10th, an explosion in the west of Kabul, where most Hazara live, left 15 dead or injured.
Amnesty International reported that on September 16th the Taliban killed six Hazara people including a 12-year-old girl in a deliberate attack in Afghanistan’s Ghor province. Hasht-E-Subh, an Afghan publication, reported that on September 17th the Taliban captured more than 70 guerrilla fighters of the resistance front and civilians in Panjshir province and summarily executed them all.
These are but a few examples of what is happening all the time here.
No one can relax. Fear and worry are all we know. Fear that we might die in an explosion, or that we might be arrested and tortured on the suspicion of being an opponent of the Taliban. Worried that we might lose a member of our family in an explosion, or lose our job, and starve. Fear that our family will starve.
According to a report released by the UN, Afghanistan ranked dead last among 149 countries in happiness in 2022. If anything, that is an understatement. Our local publications report one or two suicides in each town each week. I am certain from my own knowledge that at least twice as many suicides happen outside of any media coverage whatsoever.
***
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