Young despair amid nation’s chaos
KABUL — Sultan Hossaini sent three of his children from their rural home to the capital, Kabul, hoping they would gain degrees and employment in the new Afghanistan that was promised after the overthrow of the Taliban.
But one was killed by a suicide bomber, and the other two face dwindling opportunities and mounting fears as the country slides into chaos.
Despite 16 years of war and billions of dollars in international aid, security is worsening and jobs have grown scarce. More than 2.5 million Afghans have fled — the second largest refugee population after Syria’s.
Hossaini’s oldest son, Khadim, was 10 years old when the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. He went on to study computer science and earn a degree, but these days he is searching for work.
Khadim’s younger sisters, Najiba and Maryam, were part of the first generation of Afghan women to attend school after the fall of the Taliban, who had outlawed women’s education. Najiba studied information technology and was eventually hired by the Petroleum Ministry, which sent her to Japan to earn a master’s degree.
But as the Hossainis pursued their dreams, Afghanistan remained mired in conflict. The Taliban have expanded their reach across much of the country, where they compete with increasingly powerful warlords. Corruption is rife, and the economy is in ruins.
Maryam, who is studying computer science in Kabul, said her sister had considered staying in Japan, fearful of the growing unrest. But Najiba eventually returned, only to have her improbable journey ended by a suicide bomber, who rammed his car into a bus full of Petroleum Ministry employees on July 31.
“All my dreams for my country, for my children, died with Najiba,” said Hossaini.
Maryam recalls racing from hospital to hospital until finally she found what remained of her sister — a hand and a leg. She recognized her sister’s engagement ring, which Najiba’s fiance had given her after making two trips to their rural home in the Daikhundi province to convince her parents he was good enough to marry their accomplished daughter.
“Every day someone is dying. Who can live in Afghanistan without wondering if they will be the next to be killed?” Maryam said. “We have only one hope now in Afghanistan, and that hope is just to survive.”