Since the establishment of the new Emirate of Afghanistan eighteen months ago, many Taliban have wanted to leave the country, in search of peace after years of war and, more importantly, in order to earn a better living.
On August 15, 2021, Hamad was one of the Taliban who entered Kabul by firing into the air, and not just that… On his phone, he recorded dozens of videos , showing convoys with Taliban flags on which the Shahada is written in black and white, entering the Afghan capital. A half-length beard and Kalashnikov in his fist, Hamad then films himself smiling in the back of the pick-up truck entering the city centre.
A native of Lôgar, 80 km to the south, the young man had never set foot in the capital before August 2021. Since the establishment of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, however, he has been a member of the Taliban special forces, more precisely of the Badri 313 unit, an operational faction that patrols armed to the teeth and runs checkpoints throughout Kabul. But Hamad, in his thirties, doesn’t want this life anymore. “I am tired of war. I have killed many people. I have no regrets, but today I want to move on,” he explains without batting an eyelid. After seven years in the special forces, the Taliban fighter feels he has a right to a little “peace” and “freedom”. Is he disillusioned with the Islamic Emirate established by force and terror a year and a half ago?
“The system we brought in is good, I believe in it. That’s not the problem,” he sweeps away before cutting the discussion short when he learns that we won’t be able to give him a visa for France. His ideal place of “retirement” would be Paris.
Other Taliban are caught up in more pragmatic problems. This is the case of Faisal, 19, a guard at Kabul’s main children’s hospital. If he wants to leave for Europe, it is because the regime hasn’t paid him a salary for 14 months now. “I’ve been in the Emirate for less than five years, I’m considered a young person, I’m like a volunteer here. Only the top brass in the ministries, the special forces and the intelligence services are paid nowadays.” Yet he too helped take Kabul in August 2021.
And before that, in his hometown in central Afghanistan, he used to keep on eye on where Afghan army soldiers were setting up bases and report their location to the Taliban. “It’s tough to receive no recognition when you’ve fought like everyone else,” he says. But the young Taliban with long black hair, who wears a fez with a slit in the front, does not denigrate the regime that has been put in place. “The problem is not that we have arrived in Kabul, nor the security we have provided. The problem is the economy, the lack of salaries, the non-recognition of the Emirate by the international community.”
According to the figures of the few NGOs still on the ground, 97% of Afghans have been living below the poverty line since the return of the Taliban to power, i.e. on less than €2 a day. In his sentry box, Faisal preciously keeps all the documents that will allow him to leave in a transparent pouch, including a brand new passport that thousands of other Afghans have been asking for in vain. I got it in a few hours,” he says. With a recommendation from the Ministry of the Interior. Like many of his fellow fugitives, Faisal has played it smart: he did not officially register as a Taliban fighter. “Those who register as Taliban can no longer travel,” he explains. As one of his colleagues approaches, the young man looks down and suddenly stops talking. “I don’t want the others to know that I want to leave. They will see me as a traitor,” he fears. But I’m not a traitor, I just want to go and work in Europe and come back. According to him, two of his Taliban-affiliated cousins, who left seven and three years ago respectively, have made a successful life for themselves in France and Germany.
Faisal is aiming for one of these two countries. As for all other Afghans, there are four main routes to leave the country: by plane via Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, or by land via Iran or Pakistan. But they still need a visa, or to cross illegally with a smuggler. “I want to leave legally,” insists the young Taliban, convinced that he can succeed in obtaining a visa for Europe.
Unlike Faisal, those in the top brass receive salaries, yet some seem to share this desire to flee. Among the members of the intelligence services, some bombard foreign journalists with SMS messages. One, for example, requests “a visa to send [his] son away”. “I would like him to have a future,” he writes. But without the promise of a French visa, the man will say no more. For many Afghans, this attitude is no surprise. “In any case, everyone wants to leave this hell, even the Taliban,” agrees Javid, coordinator of a clandestine school for young girls who have been deprived of an education for nearly a year. “They shave their beards, dress normally to cross the borders and manage to leave just like that. A month ago, he witnessed the departure of one of his Taliban neighbours. “The whole time he worked for them, he didn’t get paid, so he left. According to him, the man is currently in Iran, after a journey of several days to the border, with the help of a smuggler. “He is waiting for a visa to London, because he has family there,” Javid believes. The young man says he has heard dozens of stories like these. “I don’t wish anybody to have a Taliban regime, but, you know, it’s better that they leave, because here they terrorise us, they hit us.
move on to killing in Europe, right
This got to be a joke, right? Should have thought about consequences prior to joining the Taliban
I at least hope (but I know better) that this interview alone will be enough to deport him immediately if he ever makes his way to Europe.
[deleted]
Screw that
>But Hamad, in his thirties, doesn’t want this life anymore. “I am tired of war. I have killed many people. I have no regrets, but today I want to move on,” he explains without batting an eyelid. After seven years in the special forces, the Taliban fighter feels he has a right to a little “peace” and “freedom”.
This guy’s sense of entitlement is astonishing.
All he has right to is prison, or life in the shitty environment he helped to create. You don’t just “move on” and live a nice life in Europe.
> Would he question the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan established by force and terror a year and a half ago? “The system we brought in is good, I believe in it. That’s not the problem,” he sweeps away before cutting the discussion short when he learns that we won’t be able to give him a visa for France. His ideal “retirement” would be Paris.
Lol.
Oh yeah i’m sure they want to move on, i mean killing people under a brutal regime must be very hard and exhausting for them.
They just wants to ease their minds off all this non-sense and start a new fresh life without any of this petty problems.
Investigate the source of this article before taking it too seriously.
Come mister taliban, taliban banana
How about, no?
Maybe Romania should lift visas to Afghanistan, since we got denied Shengen. We have sovereign borders, we’re not bound to any Shengen rules. Lets make the Austrian migrant theory true, what do the Austrian voters think of this neat idea?
What’s with weird scare mongering posts of late?
Time to close every border we have
I’ve heard Russia is looking for soldiers. /s
He sounds like a powerfully progressive and enlightened individual.
Sounds like EU countries when colonies got independence
Lol Europe better get ready with some real border security
The fact he comes from such a troubled place only gives him more credit, he should be teaching children about morals, everyone knows European culture is lacking in understanding and is an oppressive one.
Rubbish
What could possibly go wrong?
Quote sounds like Niko Bellic from GTA 4.
And Europe probably welcomes them with open arms… Why are we so adamant on self-destruction?
…”and kill some more over here”.
Please include the whole statement.
Fk no, I wouldn’t trust that shit, especially with the tactics being uses against the west right now.
What could possibly go wrong?
I feel a little bad for them. From what ive heard, its actaully better for at least the men in rural areas of afghanistan (pls, dont crucify me, its just what ive heard). Mainly because the local authorities in the villigas arent corrupt or at least less corupt than the officials the “old” government installed. From their perspective they fought for a good cause and its kinda not their fault, that they didnt understand that they where beein lied to.
If afghanistan wants a better future, then it would be of major importance, that a new government would be less corrupt and less influenced by foreigners, who only care for their own profit.
I hope the land sees some peace soon, most people, even most of the taliban deserve to live in the country that is not only better than afganistan now, but better than afganistan from before the war.
But stay the fuck away from us, seriously dudes, what are you thinking?
Fuck no.
Wait… Hang on a sec. Is my french rusty or this guy really acts like “oh you know, just a little Jihad through my twenties but now i want to settle down and have a better life in Europe”
When I worked as an Immigration Officer in the UK pre-Brexit I remember meeting and stopping Palestinian gent. He had been part of the group Hamas and taken part in attacks on civilians, but not enjoyed Israel shooting back (His words)
“In fear of his life” he entered Europe, crossed the channel to England illegally and only when caught claimed asylum. After claiming asylum he was released while his case was processed.
However during his free time he met the love of his life, a Polish lady who for a mere few thousand Euros married him. This provided him with an EU family permit entitling him to the right to live anywhere in the EU that his spouse resided.
* Could either of them answer a single question (over 60 about their relationship, personality, job etc etc) about the other correctly? No
* Could either really describe the other’s appearance accurately? No
* Did both of them claim to be married? Yes
and that was that, a literal terrorist got to stay in the EU, yayyyy
Ah yes. For truly free healthcare and the welfare state. Basically everything his backwards caliphate does not have.
All that TNT in 20 years just to miss this parasite…
33 comments
**PART 1**
Since the establishment of the new Emirate of Afghanistan eighteen months ago, many Taliban have wanted to leave the country, in search of peace after years of war and, more importantly, in order to earn a better living.
On August 15, 2021, Hamad was one of the Taliban who entered Kabul by firing into the air, and not just that… On his phone, he recorded dozens of videos , showing convoys with Taliban flags on which the Shahada is written in black and white, entering the Afghan capital. A half-length beard and Kalashnikov in his fist, Hamad then films himself smiling in the back of the pick-up truck entering the city centre.
A native of Lôgar, 80 km to the south, the young man had never set foot in the capital before August 2021. Since the establishment of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, however, he has been a member of the Taliban special forces, more precisely of the Badri 313 unit, an operational faction that patrols armed to the teeth and runs checkpoints throughout Kabul. But Hamad, in his thirties, doesn’t want this life anymore. “I am tired of war. I have killed many people. I have no regrets, but today I want to move on,” he explains without batting an eyelid. After seven years in the special forces, the Taliban fighter feels he has a right to a little “peace” and “freedom”. Is he disillusioned with the Islamic Emirate established by force and terror a year and a half ago?
“The system we brought in is good, I believe in it. That’s not the problem,” he sweeps away before cutting the discussion short when he learns that we won’t be able to give him a visa for France. His ideal place of “retirement” would be Paris.
Other Taliban are caught up in more pragmatic problems. This is the case of Faisal, 19, a guard at Kabul’s main children’s hospital. If he wants to leave for Europe, it is because the regime hasn’t paid him a salary for 14 months now. “I’ve been in the Emirate for less than five years, I’m considered a young person, I’m like a volunteer here. Only the top brass in the ministries, the special forces and the intelligence services are paid nowadays.” Yet he too helped take Kabul in August 2021.
And before that, in his hometown in central Afghanistan, he used to keep on eye on where Afghan army soldiers were setting up bases and report their location to the Taliban. “It’s tough to receive no recognition when you’ve fought like everyone else,” he says. But the young Taliban with long black hair, who wears a fez with a slit in the front, does not denigrate the regime that has been put in place. “The problem is not that we have arrived in Kabul, nor the security we have provided. The problem is the economy, the lack of salaries, the non-recognition of the Emirate by the international community.”
According to the figures of the few NGOs still on the ground, 97% of Afghans have been living below the poverty line since the return of the Taliban to power, i.e. on less than €2 a day. In his sentry box, Faisal preciously keeps all the documents that will allow him to leave in a transparent pouch, including a brand new passport that thousands of other Afghans have been asking for in vain. I got it in a few hours,” he says. With a recommendation from the Ministry of the Interior. Like many of his fellow fugitives, Faisal has played it smart: he did not officially register as a Taliban fighter. “Those who register as Taliban can no longer travel,” he explains. As one of his colleagues approaches, the young man looks down and suddenly stops talking. “I don’t want the others to know that I want to leave. They will see me as a traitor,” he fears. But I’m not a traitor, I just want to go and work in Europe and come back. According to him, two of his Taliban-affiliated cousins, who left seven and three years ago respectively, have made a successful life for themselves in France and Germany.
Faisal is aiming for one of these two countries. As for all other Afghans, there are four main routes to leave the country: by plane via Turkey or the United Arab Emirates, or by land via Iran or Pakistan. But they still need a visa, or to cross illegally with a smuggler. “I want to leave legally,” insists the young Taliban, convinced that he can succeed in obtaining a visa for Europe.
Unlike Faisal, those in the top brass receive salaries, yet some seem to share this desire to flee. Among the members of the intelligence services, some bombard foreign journalists with SMS messages. One, for example, requests “a visa to send [his] son away”. “I would like him to have a future,” he writes. But without the promise of a French visa, the man will say no more. For many Afghans, this attitude is no surprise. “In any case, everyone wants to leave this hell, even the Taliban,” agrees Javid, coordinator of a clandestine school for young girls who have been deprived of an education for nearly a year. “They shave their beards, dress normally to cross the borders and manage to leave just like that. A month ago, he witnessed the departure of one of his Taliban neighbours. “The whole time he worked for them, he didn’t get paid, so he left. According to him, the man is currently in Iran, after a journey of several days to the border, with the help of a smuggler. “He is waiting for a visa to London, because he has family there,” Javid believes. The young man says he has heard dozens of stories like these. “I don’t wish anybody to have a Taliban regime, but, you know, it’s better that they leave, because here they terrorise us, they hit us.
move on to killing in Europe, right
This got to be a joke, right? Should have thought about consequences prior to joining the Taliban
I at least hope (but I know better) that this interview alone will be enough to deport him immediately if he ever makes his way to Europe.
[deleted]
Screw that
>But Hamad, in his thirties, doesn’t want this life anymore. “I am tired of war. I have killed many people. I have no regrets, but today I want to move on,” he explains without batting an eyelid. After seven years in the special forces, the Taliban fighter feels he has a right to a little “peace” and “freedom”.
This guy’s sense of entitlement is astonishing.
All he has right to is prison, or life in the shitty environment he helped to create. You don’t just “move on” and live a nice life in Europe.
> Would he question the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan established by force and terror a year and a half ago? “The system we brought in is good, I believe in it. That’s not the problem,” he sweeps away before cutting the discussion short when he learns that we won’t be able to give him a visa for France. His ideal “retirement” would be Paris.
Lol.
Oh yeah i’m sure they want to move on, i mean killing people under a brutal regime must be very hard and exhausting for them.
They just wants to ease their minds off all this non-sense and start a new fresh life without any of this petty problems.
Investigate the source of this article before taking it too seriously.
Come mister taliban, taliban banana
How about, no?
Maybe Romania should lift visas to Afghanistan, since we got denied Shengen. We have sovereign borders, we’re not bound to any Shengen rules. Lets make the Austrian migrant theory true, what do the Austrian voters think of this neat idea?
What’s with weird scare mongering posts of late?
Time to close every border we have
I’ve heard Russia is looking for soldiers. /s
He sounds like a powerfully progressive and enlightened individual.
Sounds like EU countries when colonies got independence
Lol Europe better get ready with some real border security
The fact he comes from such a troubled place only gives him more credit, he should be teaching children about morals, everyone knows European culture is lacking in understanding and is an oppressive one.
Rubbish
What could possibly go wrong?
Quote sounds like Niko Bellic from GTA 4.
And Europe probably welcomes them with open arms… Why are we so adamant on self-destruction?
…”and kill some more over here”.
Please include the whole statement.
Fk no, I wouldn’t trust that shit, especially with the tactics being uses against the west right now.
What could possibly go wrong?
I feel a little bad for them. From what ive heard, its actaully better for at least the men in rural areas of afghanistan (pls, dont crucify me, its just what ive heard). Mainly because the local authorities in the villigas arent corrupt or at least less corupt than the officials the “old” government installed. From their perspective they fought for a good cause and its kinda not their fault, that they didnt understand that they where beein lied to.
If afghanistan wants a better future, then it would be of major importance, that a new government would be less corrupt and less influenced by foreigners, who only care for their own profit.
I hope the land sees some peace soon, most people, even most of the taliban deserve to live in the country that is not only better than afganistan now, but better than afganistan from before the war.
But stay the fuck away from us, seriously dudes, what are you thinking?
Fuck no.
Wait… Hang on a sec. Is my french rusty or this guy really acts like “oh you know, just a little Jihad through my twenties but now i want to settle down and have a better life in Europe”
When I worked as an Immigration Officer in the UK pre-Brexit I remember meeting and stopping Palestinian gent. He had been part of the group Hamas and taken part in attacks on civilians, but not enjoyed Israel shooting back (His words)
“In fear of his life” he entered Europe, crossed the channel to England illegally and only when caught claimed asylum. After claiming asylum he was released while his case was processed.
However during his free time he met the love of his life, a Polish lady who for a mere few thousand Euros married him. This provided him with an EU family permit entitling him to the right to live anywhere in the EU that his spouse resided.
* Could either of them answer a single question (over 60 about their relationship, personality, job etc etc) about the other correctly? No
* Could either really describe the other’s appearance accurately? No
* Did both of them claim to be married? Yes
and that was that, a literal terrorist got to stay in the EU, yayyyy
Ah yes. For truly free healthcare and the welfare state. Basically everything his backwards caliphate does not have.
All that TNT in 20 years just to miss this parasite…
Fuck off to the shithole you created.