Why a Booktrail?
1996: The Taliban soldiers invade. Women like Latifa know that life will never be the same again
My Forbidden Face
What you need to know before your trail
Latifa was born into an educated middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980. She dreamed of one day of becoming a journalist, she was interested in fashion, movies and friends. Her father was in the import/export business and her mother was a doctor.
Then in September 1996, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Kabul
From the moment the Taliban invade Afghanistan, Latifa, just 16 years old became a prisoner in her own home. “Her school was closed. Her mother was banned from working. The simplest and most basic freedoms – walking down the street, looking out a window – were no longer hers. She was now forced to wear a chadri.”
Life under the Taliban regime is far from easy. Latifa describes the way she watched her world falling apart, in the name of a fanatical interpretation of a faith that she could not comprehend. All she wants is her freedom back and her sense of worth. Everything they have taken from her and everything she has lost. She might have to flee her own country which saddens her but that seems to be the only way out apart from death.
“You’d think that in Kabul, we’d have grown used to being rocket targets. I’m sixteen and I’m convinced I’ve always heard them. The city’s been encircled for so very long. I’ve been attached and bombarded and attacked again.”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: My Forbidden Face
Destination: Kabul Author/Guide: Latifa Departure Time: 1990s, 2000s
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