‘We don’t want people suffering’: Afghans in UK on Taliban takeover in native country

‘Freedom is finished,’ one man says

Faridoon Safi says his family are ‘absolutely fine’ in Afghanistan (Zoe Tidman/The Independent)

Faridoon Safi says he spoke to his mother, brother and cousin in a newly-controlled Taliban city in Afghanistan this very morning.

They are “absolutely fine”, the shop owner in Peckham, south London, says. “They say they have no problem.”

His family told him the new Taliban governor of Jalalabad – which was seized by the militant group over the weekend – has given his phone number out to the city’s residents, telling them to phone him personally if they have any issue.

“So no one can touch you,” Mr Safi adds.

The Taliban has taken control of the country after 20 years out of power following the US invasion in the wake of 9/11.

In a rapid offensive lasting just over a week, the militant group took over major cities and moved in on the capital Kabul at the weekend.

Mr Safi, who moved from Afghanistan to the UK around 20 years ago, says Afghans have been “waiting for this day for quite long to see peace” in the country.

“The Taliban, they fought for like 20 years. Every day a suicide bomb, kidnapping, rocket firing, so at least now we can walk on the Afghanistan street in the city peacefully.”

Another Afghan man who lives in the UK, who did not want to be named, says: “We don’t want Afghan people suffering, they have been suffering for 40 years.”

He adds: “Most Afghan, if they are real Afghan, they should be happy the situation is clear.”

Afghanistan has faced four decades of seemingly endless conflict, including one during Soviet occupation, a civil war battling for power after the Soviets left and when the US invaded to oust the Taliban regime in 2001.

The former Soviet Union first invaded in 1979 and fought a war there until it pulled out of the country 10 years later.

Now, after nearly 20 years, the US is ending its war in Afghanistan, withdrawing the last American troops.

While some Afghans in the UK hope the next stage of the country’s history will bring more peace, others worry about what will happen during Taliban rule.

Samsoor Azad tells The Independent: “It is not all about peace. It is also about how a country can be more educated, modern and compatible with other countries.”

He spoke about women’s and children’s rights in the country where he was born and said he feared that school pupils will be “brainwashed”.

During its five years in power, the Taliban stopped women from working and used punishments including public stoning.

Girls were not allowed to go to school and women had to wear all-enveloping burqas while outside the home.

Since assuming power, the Taliban has sought to quell fear, saying at a press conference on Tuesday it would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law, and telling the BBC it would allowing women to “have access to education and work, to wear the hijab”.

However, many Afghans fear the Taliban will return to past harsh practices.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned on Monday of “chilling” curbs on human rights under the Taliban and mounting violations against women and girls.

The EU has said it will only cooperate with the Afghan government following the Taliban’s return to power if it respects fundamental rights, including those of women, and prevents the use of Afghanistan’s territory by terrorists.

One Afghan in London, who wished to stay anonymous, says his family in Kabul feel “safe” so far.

“Life is normal” in the capital, he says, with shops open and businesses running as usual.

But Azad, who was up until 4am the night before, watching news of his home country, says he feels “everything has been destroyed”.

“Freedom is finished,” he says.