Hesamuddin Hesam and Arne Baensch -
It was a November morning in Kabul when Heela Ashna heard the sound of gunshots. Her professor shouted: “Get down! Do not raise your heads!”
Suddenly, a heavily armed man entered the classroom and opened fire on dozens of students before running to shoot others in the next room.
“One of our classmates tried to escape. The attacker returned and opened fire on everyone and threw a grenade,” Ashna recalls when describing the worst experience of her life.
Fourteen of her classmates were killed. Another seven including the professor were wounded, but miraculously, Ashna survived unharmed. She was buried under chairs and the bodies of her classmates.
“My mates were in a very bad situation,” she says before choking up with tears. Since then, Ashna has a “horrible” feeling every time she enters the university, although she has no option but to continue her studies.
The terrorist attack on Kabul University in early November was one of the most serious attacks in the troubled country last year.
The IS terrorist group, which is active in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the death of 22 people including 18 young students.
Hundreds of others escaped the campus, mostly by climbing over fenced walls, before Afghan elite forces could gun down the attackers. The next day, Afghanistan announced a national day of mourning.
Today, survivors of the attack face an uncertain situation. Despite the start of peace talks between the internationally-backed government in Kabul and the Taliban, the conflict continues.
In addition to attacks against armed forces, the country has been hit by a new wave of bombings and assassinations, especially in the capital Kabul.
Having grown up amid war, 22-year-old Ashna is sceptical of the peace process.
“Let’s see if the talks will have a result or not,” she says. The conflict in Afghanistan has been raging for more than four decades.
The Taliban continue to reject a ceasefire, fearing that if they accept it, their fighters will lose morale and their most important leverage — threat of violence.
Jalil Amiri and Sodaba Adina also survived the IS attack, but two of their classmates were killed.
“The peace talks must focus on preserving democracy,” says the 21-year-old Amiri who saved himself by jumping out of a window on the day of the attack.
“Like all youths, I’m worried about the future because the Taliban’s rules prevent us from progressing,” Amiri says. “They do not allow us to fulfil our dreams.”
The Taliban ruled the majority of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Women were not allowed to work or study under the extremist regime.There was strict punishment for listening to music or watching movies and many people were deprived of their basic rights until the US invasion of Afghanistan toppled their regime.
Adina, who plans to study for her master’s degree soon, is 21. Like many young women in Kabul, she has fought hard to make her own way.
“I don’t want to sell my freedom for any price or because of anyone,” the student says. “We fought really hard to be able to go to university.”
The survivors say the attack on their university was a targeted assault on a new generation that is striving for education and knowledge.
But the recent series of targeted terrorist attacks has left its mark. Adina wants to continue studying but has a hard time imagining a future for herself in the country.
“I don’t know about my wishes because we don’t know about the future, we don’t know if we will stay alive,” she says. — dpa
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