Afghan Canadians don't trust the Taliban

06/11/2022 By acomputer 475 Views

Afghan Canadians don't trust the Taliban

(Montreal) Quebecer Fakhria Rezaie was only seven years old when her family fled Afghanistan. But she was old enough to remember today that life under the Taliban was "awful" and "terrifying".

Published August 18, 2021
Virginia AnnThe Canadian Press

Mme Rezaie, now 29, who lives in Brossard, recalls that the 1998 takeover by the Taliban of Mazar-e Charîf, the city where she grew up , in northwestern Afghanistan, had been sudden and violent. “They came for the men and all the guys 15 and over. We still don't know where they are, including my uncle, who was kidnapped, and so far we have no news. There is no more hope, ”she drops in an interview.

"The memories I have are horrible, some events stay inside you when you are a child and it never goes away", admits Mme Rezaie, who is now a counselor in human resources on his own. “I have memories like that. It is very wild, terrifying, there is no more humanity. »

The Taliban took control of the country at an astonishingly rapid pace as soon as US troops began to withdraw on May 1, ending two decades of state military presence United in Afghanistan. On Sunday, they took the capital, Kabul, forcing President Ashraf Ghani to flee the country.

The Taliban say they want to form an “inclusive and Islamic” government, and say they have become more moderate since their last stint in power. But Afghans living in Canada remain extremely skeptical.

Afghan Canadians do not don't trust the Taliban

30-year-old Montrealer Noori Massoud has been unable to sleep for the past few days, fearing for the lives of his family members in Afghanistan. "My body is here, but my mind is there," he said. We don't know what will happen: people want to live in peace, but I don't think that will happen in Afghanistan. »