Afghanistan under the darkness of Sharia: 'Girls put up for sale'

The deepening economic crisis, severe drought and hunger in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan have led to a chilling humanitarian catastrophe. In the country, where desperate families are forced to sell their young daughters in order to survive and cover medical expenses, cemeteries have filled with the bodies of children.

The inhumane picture in Afghanistan, ruled under sharia by the radical Islamist Taliban regime that seized power in 2021, has once again been exposed by a devastating BBC report. In the country, where the marriage of young children has been made legal "provided they are virgins," little girls are being put up for sale for around 150,000 to 200,000 TL.

''HE PUT HIS 7-YEAR-OLD TWINS UP FOR SALE''

Abdul Rashid Azimi, the father who put his 7-year-old twin daughters Rukiye and Rohila up for sale in order to feed his family because of the hunger crisis, described his desperation through tears:

"I am ready to sell my daughters. I come home hungry and thirsty. My children ask me for bread, but I have nothing to give them. If I sell one of my daughters for marriage or housework, I can feed my other children for at least four years. My heart is breaking, but I have no other choice."

Because education and work for women and girls are completely banned under the Taliban regime, families see boys as the "future head of the household" and are forced to sacrifice their daughters. Mother Kayhan sums up the situation by saying they can only eat bread mixed with hot water.

''HE SOLD HIS 5-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER FOR SURGERY MONEY''

In a similar tragedy, Seyid Ahmad sold his 5-year-old daughter Shaiqa, who had appendicitis and a liver cyst, to a relative as a future bride. The desperate father explained the step he took to save his daughter's life in these words:

"I sold my daughter to a relative. The surgery was paid for with the 200,000 Afghanis from this sale. If I had taken all the money, he would have taken my daughter immediately. That is why I have only taken enough for the treatment for now. He will pay the rest within five years and then take my daughter. My daughter will become his bride. If I had money, I would never have made this decision."

Five years later, little Shaiqa is expected to leave home to be married at just 10 years old and to have a child at 12.

''CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT SOLD ARE DYING OF HUNGER''

Families who refuse to sell their children are left facing deadly hunger. Muhammed Hashim, who lost his 14-month-old daughter a few weeks ago, summed up the devastation created by the regime by saying, "My child died of hunger and lack of medicine. If a child is both sick and hungry, it is obvious that they will die."

In a country where official death records are not kept, the painful reality emerges in the cemeteries. Observations at a cemetery in the Chaghcharan region showed that the number of graves of small children who died because of malnutrition and lack of medicine was exactly twice the number of adult graves.

''INTERNATIONAL AID HAS BEEN CUT: THE TALIBAN BLAMES THE PAST''

Behind this major humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan lie the international community's cuts to humanitarian aid, led by the U.S. and Britain, because of the Taliban's inhumane bans on women, as well as the severe drought that has struck the country.

Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, however, continues not to hold the Taliban responsible for the poverty and unemployment, instead blaming the previous administration and the artificial economy created during the U.S. occupation.