Traumatised Afghans: We are forgotten
DESPERATE Afghans last night begged: “Don’t forget about us.”
Residents says they have felt “completely ignored” by the outside world since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Millions are at risk of starvation while lawless Taliban soldiers are said to be murdering former interpreters and their families.
A dad of four, 31, an interpreter for UK forces in Helmand from 2009 to 2014, was captured by the Taliban on the way to the airport while trying to flee. He was badly beaten and arrested but later released.
He now says he cannot return to his home village in Kunduz as the Taliban are dragging ex-colleagues out of their homes to kill them on the street.
The man, who cannot be named for safety reasons, said: “Every moment is risky, every moment they are taking lives. My colleagues who supported UK forces in Afghanistan got killed by the Taliban.”
Hiding
Another resident has been hiding in Kabul for nearly six months with five members of her family – including her grandparents – who do not have access to food or medicine.
If they leave their hiding place, they will be killed by the Taliban for working as journalists and soldiers for the Afghan Government before the Taliban takeover last August.
The woman’s 17-year-old sister has died from heart failure as the family have just dry bread to eat.
A former colleague has also been attacked and badly beaten by the Taliban for working as a journalist.
She said: “Living here is like a burning hell, we burn here every day.
“Journalists and former military personnel are being persecuted.
“I’m afraid of losing the rest of my family to starvation, but we will be killed if we leave the hiding place.”
The woman said the Taliban now have access to 95% of food supplies in the country and have taken over the media, meaning stories of starvation and brutality are not reaching the wider world.
New Unicef data reveals the number of children admitted to hospitals with malnutrition nearly doubled from 2,407 in August 2021 to 4,214 in December.