Afghan families fearing forced marriages with Taliban fighters, flee to Pakistan

Khalid Shinwari, 25, is more than relieved after managing to flee Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and reaching Pakistan in recent days.  

A father of three, Shinwari's family first moved to Pakistan during the Afghan civil war of the 1990s that brought the Taliban to power.

"My father then thought that Pakistan would be a safe place to come to, given the volatile situation in Afghanistan," he said, adding that his family had settled in Kohat. "We spent several years in that city working hard day and night."

By 2007, the situation in Afghanistan stabilized and a lot of investment began coming into the country, leading to faster economic growth and booming business, Shinwari said.

"Then we decided to move back to our country," he told DW. His family had been happy to be back in their homeland despite the turmoil in parts of the country, he said.

"I started working in a Kabul restaurant baking bread and earning enough to support my family that was living in Nangarhar. My family was doing well, with all brothers saving enough money to construct a house."

'They are all concerned about their daughters'

But the collapse of the Afghan civilian government and the swift takeover of the country by the Taliban last month frightened Shinwari's family.

"There were rumors in the areas adjacent to ours that the Taliban would demand girls. I have four sisters, two of them unmarried. We undertook an arduous journey to save these two unmarried sisters."

"I did not want them to be forced to marry Taliban fighters," he said. Leaving his ancestral house was painful, he stressed, but he had to take that step for the sake of his two sisters.

Narrating the ordeal he underwent while traveling to Pakistan, he said: "We walked for three days, paying different transport guys who took away our money and fled. We left everything at our house and now live in Rawalpindi. I am working at a restaurant while my other brothers are also working. We are happy that our sisters are safe now."

Vegetable seller Tariq Khan, who also hails from Nangarhar, said he left the country as he was worried about the safety of his 10-year-old daughter. "I did not want these militants to cast an evil eye on my daughter. Fearing for the safety of my daughter, I came here when the Taliban were conquering rural areas."

"Now, my worst fears are turning true," he said, adding that his elder brother Mir Bacha has three daughters aged between 12 and 17. His other brother, Majid Khan, has four daughters aged between 10 and 16.

"They are all concerned about their daughters, fearing that the Taliban would definitely ask them to marry off the girls with their militants."

Khan says his family call him every now and then, pleading to make arrangements for their travel to Pakistan. "But the borders are closed, how can I do anything for them?"