Afghanistan, Alidad refugee in Italy: “Civilians take up arms, fear reigns”

Fear is “another civil war”. Because “the population has begun to take up arms”. The “women are afraid”. Many want to escape. There are “journalists forced to do Taliban propaganda” in the areas conquered by the insurgents. Afghanistan, where the withdrawal of coalition forces is about to end, is experiencing a “very, very difficult time”. And this is the Afghanistan that in Aki – Adnkronos International describes Alidad Shiri, who left his homeland ten years alone for Europe. A long, difficult journey that lasted more than four years. He has been in Italy since 2005, arrived 16 years ago “under a truck”, fresh from a degree in Philosophy at the University of Trento, he cheered Italy at the European Championships, but he says he always maintains contact with those who remain in Afghanistan. “In my area of ​​origin, Ghazni, the Taliban are advancing – he confirms – In various provinces there has not been a war, the Taliban have conquered the areas quickly”. Estimates cited in recent days by the BBC claim that the insurgents have more than a third of the country’s approximately 400 districts in their hands. “Citizens are also taking up arms – says Alidad from Bolzano – the risk is a civil war because everyone has weapons”. But the risk is also the existence that lies ahead for the displaced people who fled from the areas where the insurgents advanced, for women because – he denounces – “the Taliban eliminate all the rights won in recent years, not to mention the freedom of the press. “. “The Taliban – he urges – want to go back to the past”. Alidad, who has always loudly repeated his thanks to Italy for the welcome without forgetting the dream of returning to his country one day, speaks of a “message in dari attributed to the Taliban in Takhar province “in the north-east of the country, and” circulated online, which has fueled fear among women, with “journalists who contact me because they want to escape” from Afghanistan “but cannot”. Just in the past few hours Danish Siddiqui, an Indian photographer from the Reuters agency, was killed in southern Afghanistan, a victim of clashes between the security forces and the Taliban in the province of Kandahar after the advance of the insurgents in Spin Boldak, on the border with the ‘Afghanistan. “A Taliban spokesman has branded that message as a falsehood – adds Alidad, who contributed to the anthology of stories’ Even Superman was a refugee’ edited by UNHCR – but in that statement it says that the girls do not sp dare with more than 15 years, single women or widows under 45 must become wives of a Taliban “. For the future of Afghanistan, Alidad hopes for “an agreement between the Taliban and the government, under the aegis of the United Nations” because for now “they are only losing civilians”, but he himself sees that agreement today “impossible”. Convinced that it was not the right time for the withdrawal of the coalition forces, he insists on the need for “the international community to put pressure on the Taliban and – he concludes – also the Afghan government”.