In a methodical campaign, the Taliban relentlessly hounded women with any sort of public profile, looted a high school and destroyed the offices of many of the organizations that protected and supported women in Kunduz. Gone are educated women who worked for the government or international organizations; gone are some women who were school administrators and women who were activists for peace and democracy.
They left, mostly at night, on foot or in run-down taxis, hiding under burqas, running for their lives. Hassina Sarwari, the Kunduz Province director of Women for Afghan Women , which ran a shelter for abused women, a family guidance center and a center for the children of women in the Kunduz prison.
If in their publicity statements in recent years the Taliban had sounded more moderate, their behavior in Kunduz left little doubt where they really stand.
Within the first three days of the Taliban occupation, women who ran organizations aimed at helping women had their homes and offices looted, their computers stolen, their furniture, televisions and appliances smashed.
Among the organizations destroyed by the Taliban were three radio stations run by women: One was burned, the other two looted. The accusation of rapes in the dormitory was broadcast on Tolo TV, and allegations of the prison rapes were broadcast on One TV. But the evidence supporting the allegations is still sketchy. The Taliban noted that because their invasion of the city occurred during the annual Eid al-Adha holiday, the women were not even in the dormitory, but home visiting their families.
