Zarifa Ghafari, one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors, on Sunday said that she is anticipating the Taliban will come and kill her as the militant group continues to take over parts of the country.
“I’m sitting here waiting for them to come. There is no one to help me or my family. I’m just sitting with them and my husband. And they will come for people like me and kill me,” Ghafari, the mayor of Maidan Shar, told British newspaper iNews. “I can’t leave my family. And anyway, where would I go?”
Ghafari, 27, became Afghanistan’s youngest mayor as well as the first woman to hold office in Maidan Shar when she was appointed to the role in 2018 by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, NBC News reported.
At the resurgence of the Taliban, Ghafari was given a role within the Defense Ministry in Kabul, which was responsible for monitoring the wellbeing of civilians and soldiers injured as a result of terrorist attacks, the news outlet noted.
Ghafari on Sunday reportedly fled the country as news continued to spread of the Taliban getting closer to obtaining complete control of Afghanistan. Just weeks earlier, she told iNews that there was hope for the country.
“Younger people are aware of what’s happening. They have social media. They communicate. I think they will continue fighting for progress and our rights. I think there is a future for this country,” Ghafari reportedly said.
Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid pushed back on Ghafari’s Sunday claims, promising that women and opponents of the group would not lose their lives, NBC News reported.
“[Fighters will] be on standby on all entrances of Kabul until a peaceful and satisfactory transfer of power is agreed,” Mujahid said, adding that those entering Kabul would be unarmed.