Aid Groups Wonder Whether To Stay Or Go As Taliban Takes Over Afghanistan
Now that the Taliban is back in power, aid agencies in Afghanistan are bracing for an uncertain future — and hope to maintain the progress they've made over the past two decades.
Sahar Education, a local nonprofit group, was in the process of building a new boarding school for girls in northern Afghanistan – until the Taliban regained control of the capital on Aug. 15.
That's when Sahar decided to pause all operations. It stopped construction of the school and removed anything from its website that might reveal the identities of its students and staffers.
Sahar worried it could be targeted for educating Afghan girls, an activity the Taliban banned when it ruled the country in the 1990s — as well as for its partnership with the previous government. The group was helping them build and repair schools.
"All our staff went home because they felt scared for their lives," says Malahat,
