The Day Afghanistan Changed Forever: My True Story"

You may have heard a lot about this event, but perhaps not the full truth.

This is what I personally witnessed, and I’m sharing it with you. Your support means a lot to me—please subscribe to my channel.

I was in 9th grade, 15 years old.

It was around 6 PM, and rumors spread that the Taliban had captured Laghman province. Honestly, I was very scared. But I never imagined that the next night, Taliban fighters would be sitting in the army checkpoint in our own village.

I went home. My father was also sad, but since he had seen the previous Taliban government, he tried to comfort us. Still, how could we truly feel at ease?

Later that night, we heard the news that Sherzad district in Nangarhar province had fallen to the Taliban. My heart was pounding, but I kept telling myself, “The Taliban will never take all of Afghanistan.”

I went to sleep.

The next morning, when I went to the mosque and came out, I met a villager who said, “I saw Taliban in the city.” My heart sank. I felt uneasy, but I still didn’t fully believe it.

It was 7 AM. I was having breakfast with my family.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a police vehicle. Fearfully, I ran to the rooftop. I saw a speeding vehicle on the main road, waving a white flag. I ducked down, afraid they might shoot at me. I ran to the other side of the roof.

What I saw there was truly strange and terrifying. I rubbed my eyes—was I seeing correctly?

On one side, there were Taliban fighters. On the other, a convoy of government military vehicles. My tears started to flow. For the last time, I saw our national tricolor flag flying on top of a Ranger vehicle.

I thought:

“Will the Taliban slaughter you?”

“Will they blow up your school?”

“Will they tie bombs to you?”

“Will they trap you inside mosques?”

But...

Those were only my thoughts. I wasn’t to blame—my mind had been shaped that way, and I was wrong about them. I misunderstood the Taliban.

Later, I went outside to the market. I watched the Taliban vehicles pass by, feeling puzzled. I thought they would say something to me, but they didn’t.

I saw that they were human too. They ate food, they slept, they breathed just like us. I was surprised and realized how wrong I had been in my thinking about them.

We cried for our tricolor flag for a few days.

But do you know what the Taliban gave us?

Freedom, peace, calmness, life, rights—and many other things I never even imagined.

Just the other day, I watched a cricket match. There were 5,000 people sitting peacefully, enjoying the game. I thought, “Thank God, peace has come, prosperity has arrived, freedom has returned.”

Even now, sometimes I cry for my national flag. But life here is beautiful. I’m still proud to be Afghan, proud of my vast and rich homeland.

Sometimes, my heart feels heavy—not because of the Taliban, but because that’s just life.

In short, the image of Afghanistan presented to you may seem dull, but to me, Afghanistan is one of the best and holiest countries in the world. Yes, there is poverty, but at least we are not under someone else’s oppression.

Right now, I’m sitting here writing this, and I just wanted to let you know how I feel.

This was the story of Afghanistan’s fall—a truly important but somewhat frightening and strange moment in my life.

Thank you for reading. Please don’t forget to subscribe.

In the future, I’ll share more about the state of education in Afghanistan—again, from my own eyes and experiences