EXCLUSIVE: 'Taliban burnt our home down': Five sisters at Kabul airport who risk being abducted as sex slaves say 'our parents made us leave because they feared for our lives'

 These five sisters among the crowd outside Kabul airport have told   their desperate efforts to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban burnt their house down.

The young women are Hazaras, a peaceful ethnic Shia group living in Hazarajat in central Afghanistan among the Hindu Kush mountains.

With fair complexions and delicate features, the Hazara have long been the victims of persecution from other groups down the decades – and most recently by the Taliban.

Aaina Sheikh, 19, a high school student, said she was at the airport with her four sisters and brother. 'We want to go to America, we cannot stay here safely,' she said.

None of the women, nor their brother, even have passports, far less the visa documentation that would allow them to travel, but that doesn't stop them hoping for a miracle.

The young women (pictured with their brother) are Hazaras, a peaceful ethnic Shia group living in Hazarajat in central Afghanistan among the Hindu Kush mountains

The young women (pictured with their brother) are Hazaras, a peaceful ethnic Shia group living in Hazarajat in central Afghanistan among the Hindu Kush mountains

With fair complexions and delicate features, the Hazara have long been the victims of persecution from other groups down the decades – and most recently by the Taliban. Pictured left to right: Hawa, Hafizah and Aaina

With fair complexions and delicate features, the Hazara have long been the victims of persecution from other groups down the decades – and most recently by the Taliban. Pictured left to right: Hawa, Hafizah and Aaina

'Until last week we were living happily in our home and then the Taliban came and burned it to the ground,' said Aaina.

'Our parents told us to leave because they feared for our lives.'

In recent weeks there have been countless reports of Taliban abducting young women and girls to be their 'wives' – or sex slaves - as they have captured cities, towns and villages across the country.

So the Sheikh women set off on the 150-mile journey to Kabul airport on Sunday and have been sleeping on the pavements since then, with only their brother Nader, 25, a salesman, to try and protect them.

Aaina, the second youngest of the six siblings, added: 'We have some money which we are spending I don't know how long that will last.

'We're too young to remember the Taliban before, but our parents have told us how they killed so many Hazara people in the past.'

The sisters are all living proof of the advancement of women in Afghanistan in the last two decades.

Pictured: Aaina
Pictured: Marjaan

The Sheikh women set off on the 150-mile journey to Kabul airport on Sunday and have been sleeping on the pavements since then, with only their brother Nader, 25, a salesman, to try and protect them. Left: Aaina. Right: Marjaan

Aaina's sister Hafizah (pictured), 23 was studying computer science at a polytechnic in Kabul, while her other sisters, twins Hawa and Latifa, 20, and 18-year-old Marjaan, are also students

Aaina's sister Hafizah (pictured), 23 was studying computer science at a polytechnic in Kabul, while her other sisters, twins Hawa and Latifa, 20, and 18-year-old Marjaan, are also students


Aaina's sister Hafizah, 23 was studying computer science at a polytechnic in Kabul, while her other sisters, twins Hawa and Latifa, 20, and 18-year-old Marjaan, are also students.

Now all that progress could be thrown away after the US and its allies turned its back on Afghanistan.

Few set much store by the doubtful pledges by the Taliban leaders that they have changed their attitude towards women.

The Taliban have promised girls can go to school, for now, but asked if women will again be stoned for adultery or if thieves would face amputations, their spokesman insisted those decisions that could only be made by a Sharia judge.

Whether the Sheikh family will be able to escape their homeland for a better life is a question which remains unanswered, but they haven't given up hope.



EXCLUSIVE: 'Taliban burnt our home down': Five sisters at Kabul airport who risk being abducted as sex slaves say 'our parents made us leave because they feared for our lives' EXCLUSIVE: 'Taliban burnt our home down': Five sisters at Kabul airport who risk being abducted as sex slaves say 'our parents made us leave because they feared for our lives' Reviewed by Your Destination on August 21, 2021 Rating: 5

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