The Taliban attacked the northeast Afghan city of Kunduz on Monday, taking control of the city centre and army strongholds. According to one of our Observers who managed to escape, the city is now on lockdown and her friends and family who weren’t able to flee are now hiding indoors. However, she told FRANCE 24 they fear army air strikes more than the Taliban.

Zarghouneh Hasan is a local journalist. She has been threatened multiple times by the Taliban for her reporting.

“I put on a burqa in order to hide my identity”

“Sunday night, we heard the sound of clashes. They were taking place in the villages around the city. These kinds of clashes between the Taliban and the army aren’t rare, so we didn’t worry too much. Plus, the city is full of the army’s soldiers, so we thought we would be safe.

When they entered the city at about 4:30pm on Monday, we were shocked. Stores and markets shut down immediately, and in a matter of hours, the most populated city in northeast Afghanistan became a ghost town. The Taliban quickly advanced street by street, putting their flags in the most important parts of the city.”

Initially published on France24 on 10/04/2016
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