What Goes On Beneath the Taliban’s Turbans and Suicide Vests?

Illustration: Maryam Naiby / Zan TV

The Taliban’s Secret Love Affairs with Girls in Afghanistan

"I have three wives, but none of them compare to your blue eyes. Whether with your consent or by force, I will make you my wife…"

"Hey my chubby, where are you? With just one petition you drove us crazy. Your love has killed us…"

"I hope you face trouble every day just so you come to the agriculture office, because seeing you soothes the fire in my heart…"

These messages are from Taliban members who try to exploit girls visiting the offices of their government by using romantic words.

This time, Zan News has interviewed girls who have been targeted by the Taliban's romantic messages and cruel threats.

Arefa, Zhila, and Siweta, who live in three different provinces of Afghanistan, share similar accounts of romantic messages and the Taliban’s nightly flirtations.

These girls told Zan News that they had approached various Taliban offices to resolve their problems and claim their rights, but the Taliban, under the pretext of processing their cases, took their phone numbers and began sending them romantic messages in the middle of the night, and in many cases, threatened them with death.

Arefa, a girl who was forcibly married to her cousin by her family six years ago, says she went to the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue to end her marriage and escape the sorrow and suffering of her life. However, she has now forgotten the pain of her husband’s abuse and is entangled in the romantic messages and threats from an officer of that office.

"I was not willing for my family to give me to my cousin, but they forced me. He is an addict, I couldn’t live with him. The Taliban always say they prevent forced marriages. That’s why I went, to get a divorce, but the officer from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue told me to give him my number and said he would solve my problem. That night he messaged me and said he was in love with me."

Arefa, whose face shows a mix of exhaustion and anger, says with a trembling voice full of fury that the Taliban officer from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue not only harasses her with messages after 11 p.m., but also threatens to kill her.

"On the first night, he wrote to me in a message: ‘I have three wives, but none of them compare to your blue eyes. Whether you agree or not, I will make you my wife.’ It has been about eight days since that message. Every night he writes, saying he is in love with me. He says if I don’t marry him, he will kill me with his own hands."

She says she is now not only worried about her difficult married life with her cousin, but also lives every day and night in fear and anxiety.

Zhila, another girl deprived of education, says she came under the attention of a Taliban education employee in Badghis after visiting the office to collect her school grades for the past three years.

"An organization was hiring staff, so I went to the Education Department to get my school grades for the past three years verified. The employee there, who was a Talib, told me to give him my number. He said, ‘I’ll take care of everything for you and will call you to come follow up. This place is not suitable for someone like you, a beautiful girl who draws too much attention among people.’ So, I gave him my phone number, something I now regret deeply."

Zhila adds that this Taliban education employee first asked her very personal questions and then began sending her romantic messages.

"Hey my chubby, where are you? With just one petition, you’ve driven me mad. Your love has killed me." He sent me this message last night. At first, he asked me if I was a virgin or not. I said, "Mullah Sahib, why are you asking such questions?" He told me, "If you don’t answer, I’ll tear up your paper." I was forced to tell the truth. Now he sends me messages every night saying he has fallen in love with me.

Zhila is worried that one day this Talib might forcefully take her to a marriage ceremony.

"Right now, I’m really afraid that he might force me into marriage. The Taliban are very bad people, they marry girls by force. I hate seeing this old man, let alone imagining a life as husband and wife with him."

Meanwhile, Siweta, a resident of Kabul province, says she went to the provincial Agriculture Department to conduct a voice interview for a local radio station. However, one of the employees of the department, under the pretext of sharing news information, took her phone number.

She opened her received WhatsApp messages and read one of them aloud: "I hope you face trouble every day just so you come to the Agriculture office, because seeing you soothes the fire in my heart. Look at this message, it’s from just three hours ago. He messages me day and night."

"My biggest mistake was giving him my phone number. Now I’m really worried because he knows I’m single. If he forces me into marriage, my life will be destroyed and ruined."

These girls are examples of victims who are first targeted by the Taliban through romantic messages and then, after being forced into marriage, subjected to oppression and abuse.

The girls speak of the Taliban’s romantic messages at a time when the spokesperson of the group’s Ministry of Defense had previously made a marriage proposal by saying: "I am a modern Talib - marry me."