The Story of Zarbaig Sarwary (Mother in-law)

Victim’s Name: Abdul Hashim

Place of Incident: Siasang Shah Shahid, Ahmadzai Market, Kabul

Date of Incident: 06 August 2015

Abdul Hashim was only 23 when he was killed. He was my son in-law, but he was much more than that to me. I had raised him after he lost his mother in childhood. He was my son too. I did all that I could to raise him to be a good and useful person in our society. He was a calm, peaceful, and faithful person. On the night of the incident, he finished work and went to a wedding he was invited to, where he was until midnight. At the exact moment he returned to his home at the Ahmadzai market to sleep, a suicide-bomber detonated his truck at a nearby army camp. It destroyed the entire market. Hashim was killed, along with 14 others. More than 280 people were injured in this incident.

When Hashim was killed, I had to take care of my daughter and her two-year-old child. I also have to support my widowed sister, who is living in a tent in my backyard with her children, and I support my mother. They have no one else to protect or to support them. Whatever I earn, I share with everyone at home so that we can survive. We are all suffering.

My daughter has had mental disorders since her husband was killed. She is always sad, and she is suffering from anemia. She and her child live a hard life. I do all I can for them, but I have little to offer as I was disabled during the civil war in 1993.

The government has done nothing for us despite the fact that I went to different government offices for support. I asked them to come and visit my home to see the conditions of the victims’ families, but no one from the government ever bothered to come and check. It is disappointing.