• 'We have to go': Afghans ready to flee country as foreign troops withdraw

    As tens of thousands of American troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan in time for the 2014 deadline set by the White House, another exodus is gathering pace: Afghans fleeing their country's violence and economic uncertainty. NBC's Mandy Clark reports.

    By Mandy Clark, Correspondent, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- As tens of thousands of American troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan in time for the 2014 deadline set by the White House, another exodus is gathering pace: Afghans fleeing their country’s violence and economic uncertainty.

    “The international community is leaving and we are right behind them,” Khalid Gul, a 23-year-old university student, said in a trendy Kabul café. “Ninety percent of Afghans, they want to leave Afghanistan for the same reason: education and instability.” 

    He and his friends frequently discuss how they would leave and where they would go. Their top choices are America, Canada and Europe.

    “If Americans – the soldiers and the troops – leave here we will have no proper security and we will have the Taliban here again,” Shorab Shinwari, a 21-year-old IT expert, said.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Rahmat Gul / AP

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    The threat of political upheaval is another worry, with the presidential election scheduled for April next year.

    And as international funding dries up and with many international companies due to shut down after the departure of foreign troops, Afghanistan’s economy is set to shrink dramatically. Foreign embassies are also being scaled down. 

    “Fear of instability in 2014 is driving emigration of the very people and money that could prevent instability,” STATT, an NGO that does research and polling, said in its January 2013 Afghan Migration in Flux report. “Most foresee a future of conflict, instability and chaos as fait accompli for the country.”

    Some Afghans scrambling to get out any way they can are paying $30,000 to 50,000 on the black market for fake passports and passage to another country, an exorbitant sum in a country where average annual income is estimated to be under the $500 a year. A recent Afghan police raid picked up dozens of false Canadian, Pakistani and Afghan passports and numerous forged visas. 

    Meanwhile the rural poor – farmers and laborers – have fewer options. If they are forced to move because of violence, they often end up unemployed in refugee camps, which many find shameful.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Afghan refugee Abdulkareem Khan, 80, smokes a cigarette while watching his sheep, not pictured, feeding in a field on the on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 3. Abdulkareem, a shepherd from Afghanistan's north-eastern city of Kunduz, fled the violence in his hometown in 2007 along with 22 members of his family and 60 sheep and took refuge in Pakistan.

    Ali, a herder from Ghanzi province, has been in Kabul for three weeks living on handouts. He said he will probably return to the violent territory because “it is better than this life,” referring to living like a refugee. 

    Afghans already make up the biggest refugee population in the world at almost 3 million, with waves having left during the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and again during the country’s civil war a decade later, according to the UNHCR.

    Some 5.7 million Afghans returned in the first few years after the 2001 U.S.-led intervention that toppled the Taliban regime, hopeful that living conditions in their country were improving.

    With peace and prosperity remaining elusive, the tide of migrants shifted again.  In 2011, more people fled Afghanistan than in any other year since the start of the decade-long war, according to the latest statistics published by the UNHCR in January 2012.

     Nearly 36,000 Afghans applied for political asylum worldwide, but the true number is likely higher because so many are smuggled out and impossible to count. 

    “This last 10 years was an extraordinary period ... [which saw] an extraordinary amount of focus and support for Afghanistan, which is not going to happen again,” said Loftullah Najafizada, head of current affairs at the Afghan news channel, TOLO TV.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Afghan refugee children play with tires on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 1. Pakistan hosts over 1.6 million registered Afghans, the largest and most protracted refugee population in the world.

    “We have to understand that as a poor South Asian country we have to face some of these challenges which are pretty natural to a war-torn country coming out of decades of conflict. You cannot skip that challenge; you have to walk through it and it takes time,” he said.

    Shorab Shinwari and his friends aren’t waiting.

    “I thought our country was going to develop, I was hoping to live here and have a good future,” Shinwari said. “Nobody wants to live in such a country where there is war. Everyone wants to have a good life.”

    “I can do nothing for Afghanistan so I have to leave Afghanistan,” his friend, Khalid Gul, agreed. “We have to go. That is the full and final answer.”

    Related:

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    Afghan villagers flee their homes, blame US drones

    War of words erupts in Afghanistan over 2014 US troop pullout

     

  • Under cover of darkness, Afghan women head to battle

    The Afghan Army is training women to join its special forces. They are playing a key role in night raids, essential in the pursuit of Taliban commanders. NBC's Mandy Clark reports.

    By Mandy Clark, Correspondent, NBC News

    KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Severely outgunned, the battle was going badly. It seemed like certain defeat. Then, from out of the crowd stepped a young girl of around 14. She grabbed the pole from the fallen flag-bearer, held it up, and called out to her brothers-in-arms to fight to the death.

    Though she was shot dead, her rallying cry was seen as the turning point of the 1880 Battle of Maiwand; a triumph for the Afghans, and a devastating loss for British forces during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Her name was Malalai, Afghanistan’s Joan of Arc. 

    “If you go back into history, before we only had one female soldier named Malalai, but now I have a lot of Malalais in my Special Forces,” said Colonel Jalauddin Yaftaly, who heads the elite units. There are more than 1,000 women in the Afghan Army – and about two dozen have made it into Special Forces. 

    In a country where equality is still a huge unresolved issue, on the battlefield women are making huge strides. 

    Col. Yaftaly said he saw a need for women in the Special Forces to help conduct night raids. In 2011, he got permission to recruit women and has built up the female force to roughly 25, but says he needs more. Even their male colleagues say their work is essential. 

    NBC News

    Female members of Afghan special forces in training.

    ‘We do face death threats’
    Night raids are considered the most dangerous: Commandos enter the homes of suspected insurgents under the cover of darkness.

    The military says these missions are key in capturing Taliban commanders, but they are deeply controversial because it is considered culturally offensive for male troops to search female Afghans in their homes. Now, when possible, it’s women searching women. 

    “Our duty is to go inside the houses, search the women and children, make them calm and get them out of danger,” said new 21-year-old recruit Zakia Halakim. 

    Halakim was part of the Afghan police force when she was approached to try out for the Special Forces by Col. Yaftaly, who seeks the top women in the Afghan forces.

    “My family supports me, they never told me not to do it,” she said. “They know it is important for Afghanistan.”  

    On the firing range, Halakim is practicing with two female colleagues. Sporting dark sunglasses, a helmet and scarves wrapped round their faces, their identities are hidden. They have to be. Working alongside men has made them special targets. 

    The women are paid the same as the men when they are on an operation. Right now, their role is limited to night raids. 

    “We do face death threats because our work is outside of our culture but this is an important job,” said Halakim. 

    Hoping for change
    “As far as the culture in this country, no it’s not acceptable in this country at all,” said Mahbouba Seraj, an executive board member at the Afghan Women’s Network. “It goes against every single grain of belief of an Afghan man.” 

    But Seraj believes these women might be able to change the way society thinks. 

    “The most important thing is whether these women are going to do their jobs and really be effective ... are they really going to be saving lives of those women in the villages? If that is the outcome, then the whole view will change,” she said. 

    In a training operation, the female Special Forces sweep the rooms for Afghan women. There could be hidden dangers, such as female suicide bombers. Their male colleagues say they are glad to have them. 

    “We need our sisters as much as we need our brothers to join the army, police and Special Forces -- according to their interest -- and that will help us a lot,” said Agha Sharin Noori, an Afghan Special Forces soldier.

    Brigadier General Mohammadzai Khatool is the only woman general in Afghanistan. During the Soviet occupation, she was a paratrooper with over 600 jumps -- but when the Taliban took over she was forced to leave the military and stay at home.

    In 2002, after the fall of the Taliban, she was promoted to general. She believes women are an essential part of the military.  

    “Men and women are like two wings of the one bird. Working together, both are trying to defend their country and their people,” she said. 

    Seraj agrees. “These women are amongst the bravest in Afghanistan," she said. "I appreciate the first steps that they are taking so much. I wish I could be alive and be around to see them become generals in this country.”

    Related:

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  • From the streets of Kabul to Hollywood: Afghan boy from nominated film to walk red carpet

    NBC News

    Afghan teen Fawad Mohammadi, 14, is getting ready for a trip down the red carpet at the Oscars.

    By Mandy Clark, Correspondent, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- On Tuesday, Fawad Mohammadi embarked on a long journey from the dirty mud-baked streets of Kabul to Hollywood's red carpet. It would be his first time leaving Afghanistan and his first time on a plane.

    "So excited!" the 14-year-old said as he waited expectantly at Kabul International Airport for his flight. He looked the part, wearing jeans and brandishing his newly minted passport.

    It all started when he befriended an American director, Sam French, who was looking for an actor to star in his film, "Buzkashi Boys," two years ago. The movie tells the story of two poor children dreaming of becoming famous buzkashi players, a popular traditional Afghan sport similar to polo. 

    A 14-year-old Afghan street seller was overcome with emotion when he learned the film Buzkashi Boys, in which he acted, was nominated for an Oscar. Emma Murphy of ITV News reports.

    The small-budget film hit the big time in January, when it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

    Mohammadi's own life echoes that of the character he plays.

    Since he was five, he has supported his widowed mother and six siblings by selling souvenir maps for a few dollars to tourists on the streets of Kabul. He was paid $1,500 for acting in "Buzkashi Boys," which he gave to his mother to help out his family. Average annual income in Afghanistan is under $500 a year. 

    He never thought his movie debut would change his life.


    But it did. Life altered when he learned, in a dusty Internet cafe in Kabul, that the film was nominated for an Oscar, and that he would be invited to the United States. At the time, he had never even heard of the Academy Awards. He was thrilled that he was going to fly on an airplane. This was great news for Mohammadi, who wants to be a pilot when he grows up.

    On Tuesday he boarded a plane to take a trip of a lifetime. His final destination is Hollywood, where dreams are made. Mohammadi said he was "proud for Afghanistan, the first Oscar for Afghanistan."

    Kiko Itasaka and Michele Neubert of NBC News contributed to this report.

    Related:

    Tears of joy: The moment an Afghan teen learned of Oscar nomination

    Beyond the bombs: Afghanistan's toughest sport also source of hope


  • Valentine wish: Can love conquer war in battle-weary Afghanistan?

    As urban youths embrace the holiday banned by the Taliban, one group is banking on love, or at least marriage, to help end violence in Afghanistan. NBC News' Mandy Clark reports.

    By Mandy Clark, Correspondent, NBC News

    KABUL, Afghanistan -- Suliman and Farzana Sharifi’s marriage is very unusual in Afghanistan. 

    The 23-year-olds have a love match in a country where most weddings are arranged. That fact makes Valentine’s Day, a holiday banned by the Taliban but embraced by many of the country’s urban youth, extra-special for the two.

    Both work hard to surprise each other on Valentine's Day, which they've celebrated for the three years they've been together. 

    “I don’t let him know, he doesn’t let me know," said Farzana, a university student who heads up an Islamic NGO that runs orphanages throughout the country. "Like a month before Valentine’s day we act that we don’t know it is Valentine’s Day. So, we normally surprise each other.”

    This isn’t just a game – the couple believe that love is simply more powerful than hate, and it could be a weapon in ending the insurgency. 

    “When love comes even the Taliban can’t stop anybody,” Farzana adds.

    But can love really stop Taliban fighters in other parts of the war-torn country?

    An American charity put money on it. Getting married in Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries, is very expensive. Women’s families can demand dowries of up to $10,000 from prospective husbands, Qasimi said. With the average Afghan earning less than $500 a year, these demands make marriage and family unachievable for many.

    Slideshow: Afghanistan: Nation at a crossroads

    Aref Karimi / AFP - Getty Images

    More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.

    Launch slideshow

    With the help of local NGOs, Texas-based Comfort Aid International helped organize a mass wedding of 38 couples last year.

    “We did this to prevent our youth from joining the Taliban side. They often join the Taliban because they are single and poor,” local organizer Sayeed Saleh Qasimi said.

    That’s were Comfort Aid steps in – it has helped arrange the weddings for more than 1,000 couples already. Local organizations it works with have negotiated with local families to agree to more reasonable dowry prices. 

    One young husband, Sayeed Hussaini, says he simply wouldn’t have been able to get married without the charity’s help. 

    “Everyone wants things in life, like getting married,” the unemployed construction worker said. “But a lot of people are doing bad things for money like joining the Taliban.”

    He added: “I am jobless but I will not join them.”

    Hussaini's new wife Fatima is the reason he won’t risk his life. 

    She says she’s grateful for the charity’s help in easing their financial woes, which allowed the couple to marry.

    So perhaps Farzana is right to hope that love can conquer war.

    “I think love can change anything,” she said, turning to her husband Suliman. “Yeah, yeah it changed you, it changed me.”

    Related:

    Saffron gives farmers in war-torn Afghanistan a taste of the good life

    Afghan orphans hope their music will win over 'American hearts' at Carnegie Hall

    Tears of joy: The moment an Afghan teen learned of Oscar nomination

    This story was originally published on Thu Feb 14, 2013 10:25 AM EST