Afghan girls in climbing group wait and hope, desperate to escape Taliban rule
ABC News
Dozens of Afghan women and girls affiliated with the nonprofit Ascend are among those waiting in Mazar-e-Sharif as the Taliban block chartered planes from taking off.
For girls and young women accustomed to mountain climbing and physical fitness training six times a week, being confined in a crowded wedding hall near an airport in northern Afghanistan is a different kind of challenge -- one with their fates at stake. It's the new reality for dozens of them affiliated with Ascend, an organization that teaches Afghan women and girls athletic-based leadership skills. They came to the airport in Mazar-e-Sharif 10 days ago for evacuation flights the Taliban have blocked, heightening their fears they'll be left behind. "We're trying to remind them we haven't forgotten you. The world hasn't forgotten you," Marina LeGree, founder and executive director of Ascend told ABC News. "But some of them are losing hope." While the first passenger flight out of Kabul since the Taliban seized power took off on Thursday, carrying some U.S. citizens and other Westerners on board, life-and-death concerns loom for at-risk Afghans still in the country, especially for women like those of Ascend who have exercised independence in the last 20 years, free from Taliban rule.More Related News