Afghan musicians stage a quick exit
Group numbering 101 includes teachers from premier institute
More than 100 music students and teachers have fled Afghanistan in a nail-biting flight from Kabul following the Taliban’s takeover of the country, their institute’s founder and principal told AFP.
Fearing a crackdown on music by the country’s new leaders, a total 101 members of Afghanistan’s top musical institute landed in Doha on Sunday evening, Ahmad Sarmast said.
The group, about half of them women and girls, plan to fly to Portugal, said Sarmast.
But the success of the operation was in doubt until the last moment, he said.
With help from the Qatari embassy in Kabul, the musicians had been ferried in small groups to the city’s airport but Qatari officials had to answer several Taliban objections.