I have lost all achievements, have nothing left today, says former mayor who fled Afghanistan
Aug 24, 2021
New Delhi [India], August 24 : Afghanistan's first woman mayor who fled to Germany recently, recounted her harrowing ordeal as Taliban took control of Afghanistan, saying Taliban terrorists continue to search for her and they were killing off those who spoke out against them.
Speaking to ANI, Zarifa Ghafari, who at the age of 26 became the country's first woman mayor of Maidan Shahr city that lies west of Kabul, said on Tuesday that the Taliban have a list of people who took a liberal approach earlier and were killing off people one by one.
"Just nearby nine or 10 am Taliban have been to my house, they were asking for me, and they grabbed my car away, they have beaten my guards. They were all searching for me. They have a big list of black-listed people and those people who have been always speaking against them against their resistance and everything, and they're killing them one by one, they kill too many people," Ghafari said in an interview with ANI.
Ghafari said, "I can't forgive anyone as today I have lost all achievements of the past 20 years. I have nothing left today. I only have the soil from my land with me today."
"Do you know why they (Taliban) are killing people like me? Because they don't want other people to know what they are. They don't want Afghans to stand against them," she added.
Several Afghan journalists, politicians have fled from war-torn Afghanistan following Taliban takeover.
Afghanistan is witnessing a surge in violence as the Taliban on August 15, entered the presidential palace in the Afghan capital.
Talking about Taliban control over Afghanistan, the Afghan former mayor said, "Afghanistan was ours and it'll remain ours... If women like me are now not there it's because... Just like a tiger who takes two steps back to come back with more force."
She also said that her target is to meet high-ranking officials, politicians and women of different countries to make them aware of the real situation in Afghanistan, and ask them to join me to start a movement.
The former Afghan mayor said that she wants to talk to the Taliban and negotiate with them on behalf of every unspoken woman.
"I want to talk to the Taliban leaders. I am taking responsibility. I am even forgetting the death of my father. I want to negotiate with them on behalf of every unspoken woman," she added.
