Surviving the Taliban: A Sister's Battle for Life
Arzo, a determined girl, lays weak on a thin mattress in a dimly lit room in Pakistan's largest city The polluted air circulates as she fights for her life, oppressed by the Taliban Her siblings strive to save her, while doctors witness a concerning increase in suicides
Arzo spends much of her day reclining on a thin mattress in a dimly lit room in Pakistan's largest city, where polluted air circulates steadily. To pass the time, she watches makeup tutorials on her cellphone, the glow of the screen highlighting the faded freckles of a teenager who rarely sees the sun now.
Arzo is far from her home in Afghanistan, where she resided with her parents before being smuggled across the border for medical care. Her older brother, Ahamad, and sister, Mahsa, now look after her in a rented room in Karachi, their temporary sanctuary from life in Afghanistan under Taliban control.
"Ahamad whispered reassuring words as he kissed Arzo's hand. 'You will be okay. We are always with you. I hope you will recover soon.'
CNN is protecting Arzo and her siblings' identities because they are concerned about potential retaliation from the Taliban, as well as being found by Pakistani authorities who have deported thousands of Afghans since cracking down on undocumented migrants in October."
Returning to Afghanistan against her will would result in certain death for the 15-year-old, according to her siblings. They argue that she requires medical care that is not accessible in their home country. The siblings usually avoid discussing the severity of their sister's illness in order to spare her feelings. As they shared their account with CNN, Arzo quietly shed tears.
A girl with ambition
Arzo dances barefoot in jeans to pop music with her sisters inside a home in Afghanistan. She smiles as she twists her hands in time with the beat.
Ahamad revealed that the video was recorded six months after the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. Although schools were shut down, his sisters remained hopeful that they would eventually reopen. However, to their dismay, the Taliban began reinstating the oppressive policies that marginalized women in society during their rule from 1996 to 2001, despite their promises not to do so.
Women are banned from most workplaces, universities, national parks, gyms and going anywhere in public without a male chaperone.
And girls are no longer educated beyond sixth grade.
Afghan women walk by a waterfall in the Band-e Amir National Park on August 12, 2022 in Band-e Amir, Afghanistan.
Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images
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Mahsa had already completed high school, while Arzo still had three more years to go. When their village school shut down, their father, concerned, sent them to Kabul to study English at an education center, but that also closed soon after.
Upon returning home, Mahsa began learning tailoring as a way to occupy her time. Meanwhile, Arzo sank further into depression. "She often expressed her desire to leave this place," Mahsa remembered Arzo saying. "I don't want to stay here. There are limited educational opportunities, and I want to pursue a career in medicine."
In July, Mahsa walked downstairs and found her sister staring at her with wide eyes. "I asked her what happened, and she said she drank acid. I didn't believe her, so I put my fingers in her mouth and she vomited up blood," Mahsa explained.
Doctors see rise in suicides
Experts say reliable statistics on suicide and suicide attempts arent compiled in Afghanistan, but rights groups and doctors say theyve seen an increase under Taliban rule.
Dr. Shikib Ahmadi has been working tirelessly at a mental health clinic in western Herat province, Afghanistan, seeing patients six days a week and longer hours than before. Due to fear of reprisal from the Taliban, he is using a pseudonym when speaking to foreign media.
In the last two years since the Taliban's takeover, Ahmadi has noticed a 40% to 50% increase in female patients at his clinic. Shockingly, he mentioned that approximately 10% of these female patients have tragically taken their own lives.
Under the Taliban's restrictions, girls and women are resorting to using inexpensive household items in suicide attempts. This includes rat poison, liquid chemicals, cleaning fluids, and farming fertilizer - anything they believe will alleviate their suffering. The speaker expressed their pessimism about the future prospects for anyone in the country.
Dr. Shikib Ahmadi reassures individuals that there is hope for the future, reminding them that schools will soon reopen and that they can find meaning in working from home through activities such as tailoring or other purposeful endeavors.
But the truth is he doesnt know if classes will ever resume, and his own hope is fading.
"I dont see any good future for anyone in this country," he said.
Another group of girls has just graduated from sixth grade - the end of their education under Taliban rules.
Ahmadi fears that will mean another wave of self-harm and suicide.
A group of Afghan women wearing burqas are seen sitting in front of a beauty salon where images of women have been defaced using spray paint in Jalalabad on December 13, 2021. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
Wakil Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images
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"Last year, there was hope that the schools would reopen this year. The government had promised that they would open the schools," he said.
"But now that the schools are still closed, people have lost hope. I fear that the number of suicides will increase."
CNN reached out to the Taliban for a response regarding the increase in reported suicide cases involving women. In a statement to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in January, the Taliban's Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that female suicide rates have decreased since they gained control.
Over the past two decades, there have been numerous instances of women taking their own lives, but we are grateful to Allah that such occurrences are now rare," stated. However, this assertion is at odds with various reports, including those from UN experts, who stated in July that there are widespread reports of depression and suicide, particularly among young girls who are being denied access to education.
Arzo is fed fluids through a feeding tube while she waits for an operation to repair her wounds.
Javed Iqbal/CNN
The Talibans return
Arzo was born in 2008, seven years after the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States and its allies, which resulted in the removal of the Taliban leaders accused of harboring al Qaeda terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks.
During the years following the invasion, a devastating civil war raged under the Western-backed Afghan government. Despite the turmoil, life had improved for Afghan women. Many of them were able to attend school, obtain degrees, and serve as role models for girls like Arzo and Mahsa.
In 2021, a shift occurred as the US and its allies began withdrawing from Afghanistan. This movement enabled Taliban fighters, who had sought refuge in rural areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to return to power. Once back in control of the cities, the Taliban reinstated their extremist Islamist beliefs, leading to extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, and unlawful detainment of individuals viewed as a threat to their authority, as reported by human rights organizations.
After the takeover, women were instructed to remain at home initially as the fighters claimed they were "not trained" to treat them with respect. As time passed, these restrictions became more severe, leaving millions of girls and women primarily confined to their homes, facing the threat of punishment for non-compliance.
Afghan women wearing a burqa hold placards as they protest for their right to education, in Mazar-i-Sharif on August 12, 2023.
Atef Aryan/AFP/Getty Images
After two years since the Taliban's takeover, Afghan women are facing erasure from all aspects of society. Ayesha Ahmad, an associate professor at St. George's University of London, conducted thorough interviews with Afghan women who had escaped domestic violence amid the Taliban's resurgence.
"I'll always remember the day of the takeover, the frantic calls and communications, and the sheer terror they were experiencing because they understood the harsh reality ahead, and unfortunately, they were right," she recalled.
Now, she added, even more women are at risk of violence, and some view suicide as their only way out, despite the cultural stigma and shame it would bring to their families.
"According to Islamic beliefs, suicide is considered a sin. In the current climate of religious extremism, women are unlikely to be regarded as victims," she noted.
With limited compassion from the Taliban leaders who have perpetuated this situation, women in Afghanistan are seeking support beyond their country's borders.
Heather Barr, associate director of the women's rights division at Human Rights Watch, expressed concern that Afghan women are afraid that their plight is becoming normalized in the eyes of the world.
"Everyone seems to be indifferent and simply accepting that 'it's just Afghanistan.' This should be unacceptable to all of us. How the international community addresses the situation in Afghanistan has significant implications for women's rights worldwide," she stated.
"We have to be saying to our governments that this cant be seen as normal. This cant be treated as just one more country with a domestic issue."
I cry for her future
Ahamad was not present in Afghanistan when his sister consumed acid in July.
Having fled to Pakistan out of fear of reprisal from the Taliban due to his work as a journalist before their rise to power, Ahamad informed CNN that his father and uncle had taken Arzo to a nearby doctor. After receiving medication, they were advised to go to Kabul if her condition deteriorated, which it did.
In Kabul, a doctor reported that the acid had caused severe damage to Arzo's esophagus and stomach, making surgery unlikely to save her. As a result, they made the decision to transport her to Pakistan, where Ahamad was waiting with a doctor. Once in Karachi, another doctor inserted a feeding tube into Arzo's stomach.
That was three months prior. Ahamad has since revealed that Arzo's weight has continued to decline, and she now weighs approximately 25 kilograms or 55 pounds.
"Her condition is really concerning. The doctors have inserted a feeding tube into her stomach to help her gain weight and prepare for the actual surgery," Ahamad explained.
"There's a chance she might not gain weight," he added. "And there's also a possibility that they won't proceed with the operation."
The siblings live in fear of being forcibly returned to Afghanistan and life under Taliban rule. A portion of this photo has been blurred by CNN to protect identity.
Javed Iqbal/CNN
Sitting on the bed, Mahsa's needle moves with precision as it pierces the fabric, keeping her focused on the task at hand. While she longs to return to her studies, her current priority is caring for her sister.
Mahsa expressed her inability to sleep at night due to her sister's pain. The siblings are aware that they are taking a significant risk by speaking out, as they fear the Taliban's influence in Pakistan and worry about the safety of their parents still residing in Afghanistan.
They are in a desperate situation. The siblings are unable to work and do not have the $5,000 required for Arzo's surgery, as well as funds for accommodation, food for themselves, and the essential powdered milk and juice needed to prevent her weight from dropping.
They avoid contemplating the consequences of running out of money or facing an unexpected visit from the Pakistani police.
I refrain from showing my emotions in her presence, but I tenderly kiss her and shed tears as she sleeps at night.
Ahamad, who is Arzo's brother, has returned to Afghanistan along with nearly 400,000 undocumented Afghans since October, following Pakistan's government announcement that it will no longer tolerate their presence, as reported by the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Many of them left on their own accord, fleeing the threat of arrest, as stated by UN agencies in a joint statement.
The UN's OCHR called on Pakistan to stop the deportations in October, cautioning that those who were sent back were in serious danger of human rights abuses.
According to spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, those most at risk include "civil society activists, journalists, human rights defenders, former government officials and security force members, and women and girls as a whole." In a statement, Pakistan defended its Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan (IFRP), stating that it is "in line with relevant international standards and principles."
Ahamad is searching for a secure location where he and his sisters can start fresh, continue their education, and pursue the careers they've always dreamed of. He understands that going back to Afghanistan is out of the question, especially for Arzo, who is devastated at the thought.
Ahamad expressed concern that if she were to go back to Afghanistan, she would encounter the same dangers. He believes it would be best for her to reside in a peaceful country where she can focus on her education and receive proper care. Currently, they reside in a room filled with sorrow, reminiscing about the days when she used to dance freely, barefoot. Now, she struggles to find the strength to even raise her head.
"I dont cry in front of her, but I kiss her and cry while she sleeps at night, for her future, for her treatment, so she can survive this sickness," said Ahamad.
