'The Taliban took my young years. This war will take my old years': Afghanistan's forgotten victims

Fereshta’s dreams vanished when a suicide bomber detonated his vest at a central Kabul demonstration two years ago, tearing to death six people, including the 18-year-old journalism student who loved poetry, painting and writing her own songs.

Her family was supposed to gather for an engagement party of a relative that evening. They changed out of their colourful festive dresses, instead putting on black, meeting for a funeral that would leave them changed forever.

Almost two years on, Fereshta’s mother Shukria Akbari, 40 – who continues to listen to her daughter’s music recordings – admitted to having attempted suicide several times. She sits in her brightly lit, airy living room in West Kabul, her face an older, sunken in version of her daughter’s whose photo she holds on to tightly.

“Losing a child destroys you. I am a living shell, I don’t think I will last much longer, Shukria, who is left with three children, a supportive husband and severe depression told The Telegraph. Her pain rings from the walls of the quiet room. “This war has taken it all; we are its victims, but who will apologise to us? Who will bring back our loved ones?”, she asked.

As the Taliban and the Afghan government are meeting in Qatar’s capital Doha for direct negotiations about the future of the war-torn country – and a potential peace and power sharing deal, questions remain as to what will be done for people like Shukria.

While the conflict’s victims – meaning people suffering violations from any side of the conflict, including the Taliban, the Afghan government or even the Islamic State, who continue to carry out attacks but are not part of any negotiations – should have a voice during peace talks and be able to demand justice, they have so far not been included in any negotiations.

“For any peace talks to be worthy of their name, they must commit to delivering justice for victims and ensuring accountability for serious human rights violations. The participation of victims in these talks is a critical safeguard to ensure that their voices are not ignored," said David Griffiths, Director of the Office of the Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Shukria explained that her family had seen perpetrations from all sides of the conflict. Two years ago, shortly before Fereshta’s death, the Taliban attacked their hometown in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. The family managed to flee, but was left no choice but to surrender their house and all their belongings to the militants. Fereshta had been protesting this violent attack in a Kabul demonstration when an IS suicide bomber entered and blew himself up.

Fereshta was part of the new, ambitious post-Taliban generation; her parents constantly telling her she could do – could be – anything. She had wanted to see a peaceful Afghanistan – and she studied hard to one day contribute to it as a journalist.

Her mother Shukria got married during Taliban times – a quiet wedding without the usual music and dancing that many Afghans cherish. “I felt free when the Taliban left,” she remembered. “Restrictions were lifted on women and I was able to venture outside.”

Today she still does: oftentimes, she walks up the nearby hills in her neighbourhood; the busy and polluted city behind her, the mountains and its fresh air ahead.

“I visit Fereshta’s grave,” she said quietly. “The Taliban have taken my young years. This war will take my old years.”

Last year, the United Nations reported that 3,403 civilians were killed and almost 7,000 injured – with the majority of civilian casualties inflicted by anti-government elements including the Taliban the Islamic State.

Hundreds of thousands have become victims of decades of war, predating even the 2001-US invasion. With over 5,000 Taliban prisoners released ahead of the Doha talks, many victims worry that they won’t see justice.

“Victims of war in Afghanistan are completely unsupported,” explained Afghanistan’s Independent Human Right Commission’s (AIHRC) Shaharzad Akbar, adding that in many cases they don’t even have access to the truth of what happened to their loves ones and neither receive compensation or support.

“In many cases they have to live with not knowing who was behind their hurt and don’t receive justice. This is a huge emotional and psychological burden.”

AIHRC has been advocating for the inclusion of victims in the peace process, saying that it will otherwise not enjoy wide public credibility and support.

In Kabul’s Khair Khana neighbourhood, a family’s pain lingers within their old house’s compound walls.

Naveed, 14, sits injured, his legs burned in a rocket attack, fired by the Afghan army in the country’s Maidan Wardak province. Aimed at the Taliban, the rocket instead landed in Naveed’s home, killing his two brothers, and blowing away his mother’s legs who remains alive, though severely disabled.

The leftover rubble of the family’s home sits in stark contrast to Naveed’s grandfather’s house in Khair Khana, where he is staying for now: the air is filled with the smell of fresh flowers, their strong stems planted in soft soil. It’s an oasis of peace within the turbulent city; the reeling country.

In Afghanistan, peace cannot merely mean a cessation of hostilities, explained Amnesty International’s Griffiths. To break with its painful past and for wounds to heal, victims must have access to justice, with perpetrators held accountable. A failure to address serious human rights violations committed by all sides in the conflict will not only betray the victims but also threaten further conflict.

“We hope for an end of the war; we hope for peace and an apology,” Naveed’s grandfather Mohammed Aziz, 70, said; a man with a long combed beard, kind eyes, a soft-spoken voice and a love for colourful flowers. “Each family here has lived through tragedy. We are tired. We need a new breath of life.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security