As women and girls plead for their livelihoods and their lives under strict Taliban rule, the nation’s biggest pop star, Aryana Sayeed, has escaped from war-torn Afghanistan.
The 36-year old Sayeed, who had recently starred as a singing competition show judge on Afghan television, told reporters she left via United States cargo jet on Wednesday.
The singer is among the lucky few as expats from around the world who struggle to find flights out of the country stating, And taking to Instagram the musician told her 1.3 million Instagram followers “I am well and alive and after a couple of unforgettable nights, I have reached Doha, Qatar and am awaiting my eventual flight back home to Istanbul.”
Traveling from Doha to Turkey where she lives with husband Hasib Sayed, an Afghan music producer, she added: “After I get home and my mind and emotions return back to normal from a world of disbelief and shock, I have many stories to share with you.”
Before the US military withdrew from Afghanistan earlier-August after a 20-year occupation, leaving space for the Taliban’s takeover, Sayeed has been an outspoken advocate for the Afghan Army,
A spokesperson for the militant jihadist group, Waheedullah Hashimi, told reporters on Thursday, “Our ulema (scholars) will decide whether girls are allowed to go to school or not. They will decide whether they should wear hijab, burqa, or only (a) veil plus abaya or something, or not. That is up to them.” He added, “There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country.”
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Author: Brad LeBeau
Photo: Liana Zare