'We are living in fear': The female medical student 'trapped' under Taliban rule in Kabul

  • Watch ITV Wales National Correspondent Rob Osborne full report.


An Afghan medical student living in Kabul has told ITV News she fears she will never achieve her dream of becoming a doctor after the Taliban took control of the country's capital.

The woman, whose name ITV News has kept anonymous, said she is scared that she may be forced to marry a Taliban fighter and has locked herself in her house as she fears for her life - and her family's - under the new regime.

"The Taliban do brutal acts and they do not treat women and girls well", she said.

"The situation has completely changed. I and my family - and all the girls - are locked in the house and living in fear.

"The Taliban may treat girls as they treated us 20 years ago - they would force me to marry them."

She said she would like to flee her country, but is "trapped" - and called on support from the UK to help more women in her situation.

"The UK is the only country where I can fulfil my dream. I call out to the UK to help me make my dream of becoming a doctor come true because since the Taliban took over Kabul, I won't be able to".

Women can no longer dress how they like under Taliban control Credit: PA

It comes as the UK's foreign secretary Dominic Raab said the UK "underestimated" the Taliban's will to takeover Afghanistan, as he blamed the country's security forces for capitulating so quickly.

Mr Raab added the focus now, amid the Islamist group's capture of Afghanistan, must be to evacuate British nationals and native allies before the Taliban's grip on the country tightens further.

He said the government was preparing a "bespoke" asylum process for Afghans who want to flee the Taliban, with a resettlement scheme set to be announced by PM Boris Johnson "shortly".


"Someone may knock on their door and take them away at night"

Her brother-in-law has lived and worked in Cardiff with his wife and family for several years.

ITV News is also protecting his identity. He said he "cannot sleep" as he fears for the safety of his family trapped in Kabul.

The man spoke about his devastation at watching news of the Taliban's advance

The man spoke about his devastation at watching news of the Taliban's advancing forces as they took the historic capital city faster than any intelligence had predicted.

"For the last three days I haven't felt like I'm in Wales", the man said. "Physically I am here but mentally I am there [in Kabul]. All I can do is watch the news and contact my family, in-laws and friends".

"You can see already how the people there are afraid", he continued. "Some of them were so scared they were willing to cling to the airplane knowing they would die, which shows the situation is really bad".

Aerial pictures show thousands of people converging on the tarmac desperate to escape the country Credit: @Macar

"Nothing is working properly there at the moment so it's a very bad situation, and we are just so worried about our families."

The man said he has family members who previously worked for the government and a brother who is a journalist, putting them all at risk of revenge attacks by the Taliban.

"When I know my family in Kabul are asleep, I cannot sleep because I am so worried that someone may knock on their door and take them away at night", he said. We do not have police, we do not have army, we have no one we can call to protect the people".

The man said the stress of what was happening in Kabul was having a serious impact on him.

"I cannot work at the moment, I cannot live properly, but there's nothing I can do to help. I break into tears, my wife is crying constantly and when I saw one Afghan woman in my neighbourhood yesterday she said she could not talk, she was too upset".

The man says he cannot work or sleep while he is riven with worry about his family in Kabul

The man called on the UK Government to help Afghani people by taking them to the UK and grant them asylum as soon as possible.

"I believe that as soon as the Taliban sets up its government, we will lose this chance", he said.

"It's especially a bad situation for people who worked with the international community or the government there.

Hundreds of people gather outside the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan Credit: AP

"I think they will take people one by one and kill them and torture them. The media will not have an opportunity to show what is happening because I think there will be no electricity, internet or telecoms working.

"It will be a dark place, no one will know what is happening there."

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