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Former female military personnel live in poverty and fear
Barfin* translated this report for Zan Times, translated to English by Rustam Seerat
After completing the twelfth grade, Sanam* got a government job in one of the departments of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Interior in April 2018. She earned a monthly salary of 18,000 afghani, an important source of income for her 11-member family.
During her three years of employment, Sanam, now 24 years old, gained experience while deciding to follow in the footsteps of her sister, who was killed defending the country seven years ago. “The Taliban killed my sister,” she tells Zan Times, explaining that her sister was an experienced military worker who had received training in Turkey.
Then the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Like thousands of female workers in the government, Sanam lost her job and became housebound. However, after three months of unemployment, she received a call from the Taliban intelligence office offering her a chance to return to work. Despite the fear of being identified as a Taliban worker and possibly being killed, Sanam felt she had no choice due to the unsuitable economic situation of her family. “I went to my duty with fear and terror. I was terrified when I saw our boss surrounded by armed guards on all sides. Since that day, we…
