‘Longest 24 hours of my life’: Calgary student describes escape from Kabul, Afghanistan

A first-year student at the University of Calgary (Ucalgary) describes her horrifying escape from the Taliban as the “longest 24 hours of my life.”

Shakira Yazdani was attending university in Kabul, Afghanistan, when she got a call from her father saying there were rumors the Taliban was going to take over the city in August 2021.

Yazdani says she was dressed and ready to go to school when she got the call, and later the university wanted several students to evacuate the city for their safety.

“I studied in an American school, the American University of Afghanistan … they tried to evacuate their students,” Yazdani said.

She says she was among 18 students who got together and left the country.

“We left the country around 2 a.m. … the 18 of us (students) got together,” Yazdani added.

But Yazdani says the group faced many challenges along the way to the border.

“[There were] many check-ups, like check points by Taliban,” she said.

She says they arrived at the border of Pakistan at 7 a.m., but they were not allowed to cross through the border gate.

“The documents were complete, so we needed a gate pass to go to the border and enter into Pakistan, but they did not allow us [through],” she said.

“It was not clear whether it was going to open or not,” she added. “So, we waited until 8 p.m. and everyone was praying at that time. We were convinced that they were not letting us out of the country, and we have to return back.”

Until the group could get permission to cross the border, Yazdani says the students had to stay outside in 45 C. heat.

Fortunately, when they decided to attempt one last time to cross over, the guard that did not let them cross was replaced by a new one. The new guard opened the gate, and they were able to enter into Pakistan.

“So, the new one opened the door, the gate, for like five minutes, and we ran and rushed through the door,” she said.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan two weeks before the U.S. was set to complete its troop withdrawal in August 2021, after a costly two-decade war.

The group stormed across the country, capturing major cities in a matter of days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the U.S. and its allies melted away.

This created fear among those who worked with the Americans or the government, as the Taliban could carry out revenge attacks against them, and reimpose the harsh interpretation of Islamic law that they relied when they ran Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

— With files from The Associated Press.