‘THEY WILL KILL ME’
One night in December last year, 37-year-old Wadood Pedram received a chilling call at his home in Kabul. The caller gave a brief but clear warning in Pashto before abruptly hanging up. Pedram, human-rights campaigner and head teacher at Shokoh High School, a co-ed for Hazara children built and funded by the New Zealand-linked Lapis Lazuli charity, was left in no doubt that the Taliban would hunt him down and kill him.
Pedram is one of the Taliban’s top targets for assassination. His name appears on a hit list, seen by the Listener, alongside the names of 97 others, some of whom have already been assassinated.
The Taliban are now estimated to control at least 50% of Afghanistan and are gaining ground, mostly in the provinces. Emboldened by the imminent final pullout of US troops, they are increasingly attacking the major cities, too. Many border crossings and some main routes are now under Taliban control. It is estimated 250,000 people have left the provinces for the uncertain safety of the cities. The American- and Nato-trained Afghan Army faces desertions, and those Afghan soldiers who remain may find themselves rendered impotent and unable to move as the Taliban takes control of fuel routes and petrol supplies from Pakistan.
Since December, Pedram, his wife and their two young sons have been in hiding, moving
