Afghan Refugees Say Taliban's Moderate Stance Is Temporary

The children — 10 in all — were in the yard that morning at 7 a.m., having just returned from early morning religion classes.

When a mortar struck nearby, they huddled together asking each other, “Where did it come from? Where did it hit?” Minutes later, another mortar crashed to the ground about 5 meters from the children. Tamana, 10, and her brother, Peermohammad, 13, died in the blast. Nine-year-old Fazel Ahmed’s arm was severed. Shrapnel pierced the leg of his sister, Masuda. “I ran outside and saw smoke and dust,” said Nasrin Ozbek, the children’s mother. “I could smell the flesh.”