(SIREN BLARES)
AMAL: For many of us, it's hard to imagine
what life has been like for people in Afghanistan.
We've seen images of chaos on the street and at airports
as people desperately try to leave the country.
This is my grandfather.
For some Aussie families, it's particularly sad to watch.
GIRL: I'm, like, sorry for them.
Um, I don't know. It's just sad.
I have cousins, I have extended family -
my maternal uncles.
They are living in total fear and total, um, desperation.
Maheen and her brother were born in Australia,
but their parents are from Afghanistan.
My dad left Afghanistan in 2000 while the Taliban were in power.
Then, in early 2001, he came to Australia as a refugee.
The Taliban is an extremist religious group
that took over Afghanistan in the '90s.
They believe in their own strict interpretation
of Islamic law,
and controlled many aspects of people's lives,
banning many things like television,
non-religious music and even flying kites.
And they gave harsh punishments to people who disobeyed them.
The Taliban, like, they would be killing innocent people
and abusing people and, like, hurting them,
not letting girls go to school and, like...
..like, covering...covering them up.
For women and girls, life was especially hard.
Girls weren't allowed to go to school after the age of eight or get a job,
couldn't leave the house without a man,
and all women had to wear burqas,
which is a one-piece veil that covers the face and body.
It was in 2001
that the Taliban really came to the world's attention.
(HORN HONKS) Move it! Come on!
On 11 September 2001,
an Islamic extremist group called al-Qaeda
carried out the biggest terrorist attack in history
against the US.
Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, wasn't from Afghanistan,
but he trained there
and the Taliban was protecting him and other terrorists.
On my orders,
the United States military has begun strikes
against al-Qaeda terrorist training camps
and military installations
of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
SOLDIER: Fire!
The US, along with its allies, including Australia,
invaded Afghanistan and ended the rule of the Taliban,
but the group didn't disappear altogether.
They fled to remote parts of the country
and continued to fight against the US,
its allies and the Afghan army.
Over the next two decades, trillions of dollars were spent
and thousands of lives were lost
as the US and its allies fought the Taliban
while training the Afghan army, rebuilding parts of the country
and trying to establish democracy.
Afghanistan set up a free media and had an election.
Girls could go to school, get a job and be what they wanted to be.
But we know that...
But earlier this year,
the US announced it was going to leave.
I've concluded that it's time to end America's longest war.
Many worried that, without US support,
the Taliban would take control again,
and that's exactly what happened,
way faster than anyone expected.
The Taliban swept across Afghanistan
with not much resistance from the Afghan army.
Then they entered the capital, Kabul,
and took over the presidential palace as elected leaders fled the country.
The Taliban have established a new government
and they say they want to work with Afghan people
and the rest of the world.
They've promised to respect women's rights
and not punish people who've helped foreign armies,
but many don't believe them.
As an Afghan woman, I wouldn't trust them
because they don't have a very good track record
of keeping up their promises, or something like that.
The US and other countries, including Australia,
have been evacuating their citizens from Afghanistan,
along with Afghans who helped them during the war.
Devastated. Absolutely devastated about it.
It's a terrible... It's a terrible situation.
Many Afghan people say they're shocked and angry.
WOMAN: What did they do?
They just came back, left Afghanistan
in the same situation as it was in 2001.
But the US president has stood by his decision to leave.
American troops cannot and should not
be fighting in a war and dying in a war
that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves.
For people in Afghanistan
and for people watching around the world,
it's a sad and scary time.
I don't want to start wars with each other
because wars are bad for killing people.
And no shooting people.
MAHEEN: I hope that
there's no more war, there's no bombing,
there's no shooting, there's no killing,
there's no anything there.
It's just going to the shops and just getting whatever you need
and just coming home safe.