Risking his life every day for 13 years in the fight against terrorism, Burhan Vesal wasn’t about to give up easily when the Taliban suddenly took back control of his beloved city of Kabul just over two years ago.
As the world looked on helplessly at the heart-wrenching scenes of people clinging on to planes at Kabul International Airport, desperately trying to escape, Burhan was walking back into danger, carefully dodging Taliban fighters, as he made his way into his abandoned office at the seat of the Afghan Government.
In what would be his last brave act of defiance against the deadly and oppressive Taliban regime, Burhan destroyed the counter-intelligence he had gathered specifically for his boss, Amrullah Salih, the then vice-president of Afghanistan.
“On 15th August 2021, I was on the way to work and I knew that multiple cities were collapsing to the Taliban but we didn’t think Kabul would collapse because we had coalition forces and the US were there,” says Burhan.
“I saw people were running everywhere and the traffic was building up.
“I called my colleagues in the office and they told me that the vice-president had already left the office and they told me not to come in.
“But my computer had lots of information on it so I needed to destroy it.
“So I went to the office and I damaged the hard disk.
“Later on I saw that the Taliban were on the streets and everyone was leaving.”
Witnessing the collapse of Kabul to the Taliban
Amidst all the chaos and confusion, Burhan, who had previously worked on the frontline in Afghanistan as a battlefield interpreter for the British Army, was given safe passage with his wife Narcis and their eight-year-old son Sepehr to the UK and then later to Aberdeen where they now live.
“There were thousands of people at the airport so I stood there from 9am to 5pm before one of the sergeant major’s called me over,” says Burhan.
“I was really tired and my son was on my shoulders.
“He saw my papers and my passport and he asked us to come with him and that was a moment that changed our lives from hell to heaven.”
Brutal anti-women Taliban regime
Although relieved to find safety, solace and freedom in Aberdeen, the family live in fear for their female relatives who are still in Afghanistan, living under a Taliban regime that the former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently described as the “systematic brutalisation of women and girls.”
Despite Taliban leaders promising a more moderate rule than their previous period in power, nothing could be further from the truth as girls have been banned from attending secondary school, women are excluded from university and are prohibited from entering amusement parks, gyms and working in non-governmental organisations, and must adhere to a strict dress code.
Women’s rights eroded in Afghanistan
Last month, Afghan women bravely held a rare protest against the Taliban’s decision to shut female beauty parlours and salons.
Watching the news bulletins about the situation for women in her home country is heart-breaking for Burhan’s wife Narcis.
“As a free woman who is living in the UK, I’m deeply concerned about the situation for women in Afghanistan,” says Narcis.
“I’m very depressed and sad to see after 20 years of fighting for democracy, education and the freedom to have a job, all of that has disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“It’s something that no-one should accept.”
From Afghanistan to Aberdeen
Growing up in Afghanistan, Narcis herself missed out on five years of education due to the ban on girls going to school.
But once the transitional government came to power in 2001, she was able to return to her education and qualified as a gynaecologist.
“I worked as a doctor, a gynaecologist in Afghanistan, so I’m at college in Aberdeen to improve my English and when I pass the tests, I hope to join the NHS,” says Narcis.
“I would like to give something back to Scotland.”
Fighting for women’s rights in Afghanistan
Brought up by his forward-thinking father, who was once jailed by the Taliban for running a women’s clothes shop, Burhan is equally as passionate about women’s rights.
“In Afghanistan we were fighting a terrorism that needed to be removed,” says Burhan.
“I remember they were punishing women and it was terrible.
“We thought the Taliban might change their ideology in 20 years but what I’m watching now is the same.
“Those women who are highly educated and were supporting their families, now they have to sit in the corner of the house – they’re not allowed to go out.”
The fateful day coalition forces pulled out of Afghanistan
After risking his life for years as an interpreter and then as a government intelligence officer for the NATO-supported Afghan government, Burhan is still reeling from the fateful day that the Western troops and coalition forces suddenly pulled out of the country.
“People in Afghanistan were not thinking that the coalition forces – especially NATO and the US – would hand Afghanistan back to the Taliban,” says Burhan.
“We didn’t think it would suddenly collapse like that and that the Taliban would come back to power.
“Those who were terrorists are now friendly with coalition forces.
“It’s left a big question on everyone’s mind’s especially everyone still in Afghanistan.”
Wish for freedom in Afghanistan
Working as a mobile security officer in Aberdeen, Burhan works hard to support his wife and son, but as the situation is so desperate in Afghanistan, he also sends money back to his family who are stuck there.
“My hope is that one day I see freedom in Afghanistan, free from the Taliban,” says Burhan.
“But I’m not sure when it will happen again.”
To see Afghanistan free from the Taliban rule is something that Narcis also dreams of.
“The last wish I have is to see the women have their own rights back in Afghanistan.”
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