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is a victim/survivor of a/an
Additional information
Date of birth:
Unknown
Village/Town of birth:
Unknown
Province of birth:
Daykundi: Nili
Gender:
Female
Ethnicity:
Hazara
Education:
Illiterate
Date of the main incident:
1993-1996
Place of the main incident:
Kabul city, Dashte Barchi
Related incident:
Incident description
Many Mujahidin factions waged a civil war throughout Afghanistan in the 1990s, killing thousands of people, including women and children. Some were forced to flee their homes and subjected to various forms of violence like rape, extortion, abuse, harassment, abduction, and arbitrary detentions. Safia lost three members of her family during the bloody civil war, including her mother, her cousin, and her brother in-law, when a mortar shell was thrown into their home by the hostile group in the western suburb of Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul.
AHRDO Archive
Alleged type of harm
Alleged type of crimes
Province:
Kabul: Kabul
Latitude:
34.5168788437339
Longitude:
69.1499999975304
Latitude: 34.5168788437339
Longitude: 69.1499999975304
When Homes Turn into Graveyards
Narrator: Safia
Victim: Shirin Gul
Date of the incident: 1993-1996
Location of the incident: Kabul City, Dashte Barchi
Shirin Gul is not the only woman whose house was destroyed over the past three decades of war in Afghanistan, though all houses destroyed in Kabul resemble that of Shirin Gul. The injuries visible to the walls of the houses mirror the injuries inflicted onto the bodies of its residents.
During the various conflicts, particularly the one between the different Mujahidin factions, the houses in Kabul were no longer people’s shelters. Rather, they were their graves prepared in advance. There was always the possibility of a rocket or artillery shelling destroying someone's home. None of the houses were beyond the reach of violence, nor were they durable enough to protect their inhabitants against the persistent attacks. These ruined houses became a refuge for Death, making his home among the many people buried in the rubble of their own homes. The whole of Kabul was turned into a gigantic graveyard.
Shirin Gul was one of those people whose house was bombed and took her life during the civil war in the 1990s. It happened on an evening when she attempted to defy the terror of war by holding a small reception to bring back the happiness of former times to what had by then become a city of ghosts. She did not expect that her home would one day become a slaughterhouse, and that her reception would end in terrible tragedy. Shirin Gul had invited her son in-law and brother in-law to an evening reception. They had just begun their supper when a stray rocket fired by the Taliban hit the exact room where the reception was taking place, immediately killing Shirin Gul and her two guests. The death of Shirin Gul marked the end of happiness for her children. Her husband did not marry again and dedicated himself to taking care of his mother-less children.
The Story of Shirin Gul
My name is Safia and I am 42-years-old. I am living in the Dugh Abad area of Dashte Barchi. During the war, I lost three members of my family: my mother, my cousin, and my brother in-law. My whole family, including my son in-law and my cousins, were in our home when a rocket hit our house and killed them. I was not personally present when the incident happened.
According to my family members, their bodies were ripped to pieces and it was almost impossible to identify them. My cousin had a two-month-old child who died soon after his father’s untimely death. His wife had no option but to return to her father’s home. My mother left behind six children, two sons and four daughters. Today, my father is old and my sisters are mentally unstable. One of my sisters left her husband and children because of these mental problems.
Now she does not recognize anyone anymore. I am not mentally stable either. I was desperate after the death of my mother. She loved me a lot.
The worst moment in my life was when I heard about the death of my mother. After she died, no one ever properly welcomed me in my father’s home anymore, and this made me so disappointed.
Latitude: 34.5168788437339
Longitude: 69.1499999975304
Many Mujahidin factions waged a civil war throughout Afghanistan in the 1990s, killing thousands of people, including women and children. Some were forced to flee their homes and subjected to various forms of violence like rape, extortion, abuse, harassment, abduction, and arbitrary detentions. Safia lost three members of her family during the bloody civil war, including her mother, her cousin, and her brother in-law, when a mortar shell was thrown into their home by the hostile group in the western suburb of Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul.
When Homes Turn into Graveyards
Narrator: Safia
Victim: Shirin Gul
Date of the incident: 1993-1996
Location of the incident: Kabul City, Dashte Barchi
Shirin Gul is not the only woman whose house was destroyed over the past three decades of war in Afghanistan, though all houses destroyed in Kabul resemble that of Shirin Gul. The injuries visible to the walls of the houses mirror the injuries inflicted onto the bodies of its residents.
During the various conflicts, particularly the one between the different Mujahidin factions, the houses in Kabul were no longer people’s shelters. Rather, they were their graves prepared in advance. There was always the possibility of a rocket or artillery shelling destroying someone's home. None of the houses were beyond the reach of violence, nor were they durable enough to protect their inhabitants against the persistent attacks. These ruined houses became a refuge for Death, making his home among the many people buried in the rubble of their own homes. The whole of Kabul was turned into a gigantic graveyard.
Shirin Gul was one of those people whose house was bombed and took her life during the civil war in the 1990s. It happened on an evening when she attempted to defy the terror of war by holding a small reception to bring back the happiness of former times to what had by then become a city of ghosts. She did not expect that her home would one day become a slaughterhouse, and that her reception would end in terrible tragedy. Shirin Gul had invited her son in-law and brother in-law to an evening reception. They had just begun their supper when a stray rocket fired by the Taliban hit the exact room where the reception was taking place, immediately killing Shirin Gul and her two guests. The death of Shirin Gul marked the end of happiness for her children. Her husband did not marry again and dedicated himself to taking care of his mother-less children.
The Story of Shirin Gul
My name is Safia and I am 42-years-old. I am living in the Dugh Abad area of Dashte Barchi. During the war, I lost three members of my family: my mother, my cousin, and my brother in-law. My whole family, including my son in-law and my cousins, were in our home when a rocket hit our house and killed them. I was not personally present when the incident happened.
According to my family members, their bodies were ripped to pieces and it was almost impossible to identify them. My cousin had a two-month-old child who died soon after his father’s untimely death. His wife had no option but to return to her father’s home. My mother left behind six children, two sons and four daughters. Today, my father is old and my sisters are mentally unstable. One of my sisters left her husband and children because of these mental problems.
Now she does not recognize anyone anymore. I am not mentally stable either. I was desperate after the death of my mother. She loved me a lot.
The worst moment in my life was when I heard about the death of my mother. After she died, no one ever properly welcomed me in my father’s home anymore, and this made me so disappointed.
AHRDO Archive
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