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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Zahra Joya and Rukhshana Media reporters

Hungry, hunted, terrified: unending plight of the Afghan women who served in military and police

Silhouette of a woman in a headscarf standing behind a screen curtain
Since the Taliban captured Kabul in August 2021, female former army and police officers are afraid to leave their homes and many experience mental illness. Photograph: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

Shima Forugh* was in 10th grade at school when she decided she would join the Afghan army. It had been taboo in Afghanistan’s patriarchal society for women to join the military, but hundreds of women like Forugh broke through this restriction.

When she was 21, she joined the 207th Zafar army corps in Herat. Her father, who was also a member of the Afghan army, and mother both supported her decision to sign up.

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