Afghanistan's well-known pop artist Aryana Sayeed described her escape from Kabul as "very difficult and very challenging" after the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country.
Talking about her escape in an exclusive interview withfrom an undisclosed location, she said, "I was in Afghanistan for past eight months and all of a sudden there is a change, Taliban came to Kabul and they took over. I was left with no choice but to leave Afghanistan. We left in a very difficult manner, it was very challenging for me. Besides the fact that I am a singer, I am also a very outspoken women rights activist. By the time we decided to leave Afghanistan, the Taliban had put up checkpoints across the country. We were very scared."
Further, she added that the real challenge was travelling from home to Kabul airport amid various Taliban checkpoints in the capital city after they took over last Sunday.
"Major challenge was the journey from home to airport, that's where the problem was, fortunately, we made it to the airport. My fiance and I and 100 other American passport holders were the lucky ones," she said.
Narrating the ordeal, she said that there was total chaos on August 15, the day she was to leave the country. "It was absolute chaos as you can see on video. That's what I experienced, my flight was on the 15th of August, I was booked on a commercial flight but unfortunately, on that day the Taliban took over Kabul. My flight was at 8 pm. We made our way to the airport," she said.
Describing the scene at the Kabul airport, Sayeed said that it was filled with thousands and thousands of people and small children piled over each other.
She further stated that by the time she reached the airport, the Taliban were still not there, but unfortunately at 5 pm they heard gunshots while she was inside the airport.
"We heard gunshots and suddenly airport staff including the security and pilots ran away. The plane could not take off. We were getting news Taliban was closing in and they can get inside airport anytime," she added.
Talking about her future, she said, "I would continue with my career, I had a career outside Afghanistan as well. I will dedicate my music and money generated from it to Afghanistan and its people, that's my entire focus," Sayeed added.
Sayeed further reiterated that she will try her best to become the voice of the voiceless Afghans.
"I am not inside Afghanistan, I am outside but I will try my best to be the voice of the voiceless, I will try to spread the word out there and see what we can do to get help to focus on Afghanistan and its people," said Sayeed
( With inputs from ANI )
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