Afghanistan’s female volleyball players tell of threats and fear

Players from the Afghanistan women’s volleyball team are hiding from the Taliban and one of the squad was killed last month.Almost 30 players are hoping to escape from Afghanistan, saying they fear for their lives.
Some of the team have been moving between provinces to avoid detection from the Taliban, who retook control of Afghanistan last month.

Zahra Fayazi arrived in the UK about a month ago after fleeing. She played for Afghan women’s volleyball team for seven years before stepping into a coaching position.

Zahra told the BBC one of the squad had been killed, but said the details are unclear at present.

“We don’t want this to repeat for our other players,” she said.

Zahra is still in contact with her former team-mates, many of whom remain on the move.

“Our players who were living in the provinces had to leave and live in other places,” she said.

“They even burned their sports equipment to save themselves and their families. They didn’t want them to keep anything related to sport. They are scared.

“Many of our players who are from provinces were threatened many times by their relatives who are Taliban and Taliban followers.

“The Taliban asked our players’ families to not allow their girls to do sport, otherwise they will be faced with unexpected violence.”