Thread by @MasterOfPsy

After the Taliban seized their school, Afghanistan’s all-female orchestra tried to flee. Only some escaped.

By Sudarsan Raghavan

washingtonpost.com/world/2021/10/…

"Today, their school—Afghanistan National Institute of Music—is a military base of the Haqqani network, hard-line group allied with the Taliban with strong links to al-Qaeda."

@PentagonPresSec
@SecBlinken
ConnectTheDots
#Taliban_ISIS_AlQaeda
#TalibanCredibilityZERO
#RussiaFactor

"evacuation operation bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers, @SpeakerPelosi, @RepLizCheney +senior American politicians+ military officials.

But the chaotic effort failed
to get the girls+scores of other students+faculty out of the country before the U.S. withdrawal was complete."

"At one point, the Taliban stopped the girls’ buses 55 yards from a U.S. military-controlled gate into Kabul’s international airport, their portal to freedom and a new life."

"A second attempt on Oct. 3 succeeded in taking out roughly a third of the music school with the help of famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma and others. Those who escaped included two Zohra musicians interviewed by The Washington Post a week earlier."

"But the rest didnt have valid passports+remain trapped in the capital. The girls spend their days inside their houses gripped by fear,uncertain if they'll ever return to school or play music again
Afghans bury paintings+hide books out of fear of Taliban crackdown on arts+culture

“I haven’t practiced my violin since the day the Taliban came,” said an 18-year-old orchestra member left behind, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of security concerns. “The only life I want is one where I can freely play my violin.”

"Her future hinges on the willingness of the Taliban(which once dispatched a suicide bomber to one of the school’s musical performances)to issue her new travel documents.

The violinist is among tens of 1000s of vulnerable Afghans left to fend for themselves under the Taliban,"

"despite @POTUS Biden’s description of US evacuation of 124k people as“an extraordinary success.”
Those who remain in Afghanistan incl female judges, women’s rights activists,former US military translators,artists+countless others whose work or beliefs now in Taliban crosshairs."

"Many remain in hiding.

The difference between the Zohra Orchestra+other Afghans left behind is that the music school has a constellation of educators, philanthropists, lobbyists and other influential benefactors, mostly in the US and Europe, working to get the students out."