Los Angeles [US], February 27 (ANI): Mariam Solaimankhil, an Afghan parliamentarian living in exile, said Friday that the escalating Afghanistan-Pakistan confrontation and regional power struggles have stripped Afghan women of rights and security, with women and children suffering most.
In an interview with ANI, Solaimankhil rejected claims that recent airstrikes struck only militants, arguing civilians have been the primary victims. “It’s women and children. We see the pictures. We see the videos. And it’s always been women and children,” she told ANI, saying violence hits non-combatants both inside Afghanistan and across its borders.
She said civilians are targeted even within Pakistan’s own provinces, citing Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Who are they killing? They’re killing civilians. Who’s in jail right now? It’s Mahrang Baloch in Balochistan. It’s Ali Wazir,” she said, alleging that these detainees are held while some extremists remain connected to figures like Osama bin Laden.
Solaimankhil accused elements inside Pakistan of nurturing extremist groups over decades, naming Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Afghan Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba among outfits she says were created there. “They’ve created TTP. They’ve created the Afghan Taliban. They’ve created Lashkar-e-Taiba… this ideology that they’ve created is not natural to our region. This is something that was made in Rawalpindi,” she said.
She warned the harm goes beyond fatalities and injuries: the psychological trauma endured by survivors endures across families and generations. “Surviving and living are two different things. They’re not free. They’re psychologically in prisons, and they’re in fear at all times,” she said.
Solaimankhil said Afghan women are trapped between armed conflict and Taliban-imposed restrictions, with little access to justice or protection. “There is no UN, there is no Amnesty, there is no human rights for Afghans. It’s incredibly sad,” she said.
On the rollback of women’s freedoms, she noted Afghan women once held substantial rights. “Our women had rights before anyone in the West did. I mean, we had the right to vote, we had the right to land, and we had the right to so many things before American and European women did,” she said, adding that politics and war have torn those rights away.
Critical of Pakistan’s role, she accused powerful actors of profiting from conflict but urged ordinary citizens—especially women—to lead peace efforts. “The good people of India, the women of India, and the women of Afghanistan need to get together… I don’t count on the UN, and I don’t count on other countries, but I do count on the women of the world, especially in India, because I think we can be the bridges to peace,” she said.
Her remarks come amid rising tensions along the Durand Line after Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul, Kandahar and Paktia, with both Afghanistan and Pakistan reporting casualties and accusing each other of aggression. (ANI)
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