Taliban in Afghanistan: Residents of Kabul who did not even get time to take their belongings with them

BBC News

 September 28, 2021

"I often joked with my wife in Kandahar that I would remarry ... "I see which woman is ready to marry you," she replied.

According to journalist Abdullah (name has been changed), when he moved from Kandahar to Kabul, his children were very happy, but his wife became sad.

Abdullah says he repeatedly asked his wife why she was sad, and she said she missed her hometown (Kandahar), but several days later his wife broke the silence and asked: 'I'm sure I don't know how you can do that and make your second wife such a good home. '

Thousands of Afghans have fled their homes since the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and most of these families have not had the opportunity to collect daily necessities, even empty ones. There were also cooked meals in some of the houses that were made, which the family members did not get a chance to eat.

Journalist Abdullah (name has been changed) also rented a house after the fall of Kabul, which his residents had left after the Taliban took over Kabul.

When we came here, the tea was made in a thermos, the fridge was full of food and fruit, women's clothes, utensils, slippers and all the household items were in the house," he said. Were.

Seeing all this, his wife realized that perhaps this was indeed the house of Abdullah's second wife.

Abdullah laughed and said that after that he explained to his wife that this was not my second wife's house but most of the residents of Kabul had left their homes like this because they had the opportunity to sell or take household goods with them. Could not be found

It's not just about the house, but most of the families have left their homes like that," Abdullah said.

He says the geyser installed in the house was on and the men's and women's slippers were lying separately in the washrooms.

Abdul Salam had been working as a guard in the Khair Khana Mina area of   the capital Kabul until August 15, but now owns six vacant houses, which were handed over to him by the owners after August 15 and left Kabul with his family. Went to the country.

According to Abdul Salam, house rents in Kabul have dropped by more than 60 percent.

Abdul Salam says five of the six houses have been rented out, while one is still vacant.

"I have rented three houses to families who have come here from other provinces of Afghanistan and are now trying to go abroad from here as well."

It should be noted that after the Taliban took control of Kabul, most countries have evicted Afghans and are still trying to evict those who have worked for the past 20 years with former Afghan governments, the army, police, media and international NGOs. Worked with

Despite the Taliban's announcement of a general amnesty for all Afghans, most Afghans still say that "there is a contradiction between the Taliban's declarations and its actions."

Abdul Salam told the BBC that the houses had everything from furniture to kitchen utensils and in one or two houses there were even men's and women's clothes, and the families who left told him, You can use it. '

However, Abdul Salam says he has collected men's and women's clothes and kept them in a safe place before renting the house.

Journalist Abdullah has also rented a house from security guard Abdul Salam and the monthly rent of this house is now two hundred dollars.

When Abdullah was asked how much the house could have been rented before the fall of Kabul? So he said, "At least six hundred dollars."

Abdullah is affiliated with an international media organization that invited him from Kandahar to the Afghan capital, Kabul, in June this year.

"My organization and many of my colleagues were called to Kabul by our organization because the security in Kabul was still better than other provinces."

Although many of Abdullah's associates have now gone abroad, he and some of his associates are still in the capital, Kabul.

Abdullah says that after the fall of Kabul, his company told him to rent a house and shift the children from Kandahar because, according to him, "I was tired of staying in a hotel."

"When I saw this house and the things that were in it, I was very sad, and I kept thinking about the conditions under which the family who had lived here before would leave everything behind and get out of here quickly," he says. Would have gone