Panic grips Afghanistan as civilians flee Taliban's relentless advance [View all]

[Rustyeye77]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/panic-grips-afghanistan-civilians-flee-taliban-s-relentless-advance-n1276528

A new wave of panic has gripped Afghanistan.

As the Taliban tear through territory, toppling government districts like dominoes, those who can are scrambling to leave provincial cities for the relative safety of the capital, Kabul. Those who can’t live with constant anxiety and are struggling to sleep.

Diyana Sharifi left her hometown of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan this week as rumors swirled that the Taliban were poised to take the city and fighters were looking to find young girls to marry, and young boys to join the fight.

The prospect of having to marry a Taliban fighter was beyond her worst nightmare, the law student said, adding that she would rather die than be submitted to such a fate. “It was fear, it was helplessness, it was anger,” Sharifi, 21, said, ticking off the emotions she had felt in Mazar-e-Sharif. “I had the fear of being trapped in that place, of not being able to get out

Sharifi is one of hundreds of thousands of Afghans driven from their homes so far this year due to conflict, seeking refuge both from the fighting and the prospect of the Islamist regime that ruled the country before 2001 being reimposed. While in power, the Taliban enforced a strict interpretation of Islam under which women were largely invisible in public life.

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Terrible. Just terrible