The Afghan boy, Murtaza Ahmadi, Which rose to fame in 2016 when some photographs went viral in which he appeared in a T – shirt made with a plastic bag with the name of the football player Leo messi and its number 10, is now hidden in Acceptance for fear of possible retaliation from the Taliban.
The young man, who is now 10 years old, lives with his family in a small ofpthe capital of the Afghan capital, where they fled two months ago from their home village in the province southern of Ghazzni, escaping, also then, from the Taliban attacks.
However, they did not expect the Islamists to take it any time soon control of Kabul after a lightning offensive, capturing the capital in the past August 15th without encountering any resistance from the Afghan security forces.
“I’m trapped at home and I can’t leave because I’m very afraid of the Taliban,” said young Murtaza, who belongs to the attack. Shiite minority Hazara, constant target of attacks, especially from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
“I want to travel to a safe place from Afghanistan. Please save me from this situation,” prayed the boy, who called for help from world footballers, especially Messi, so he can go out with his family. of country and “playing football in peace”.
Something that Murtaza does not stop doing at any time, even inside his home, a passion for the ball that was clear since in 2016 it was photographed with a t-shirt made with a plastic bag with the blue and white stripes of the Argentine selection and Messi’s name and his number 10 painted.
But those images, which allowed him to meet his idol in person in Qatar, have brought him more misfortune than joy, as his sudden fame carries with it threats from extremists or even the fear of the possible kidnapping of the little one, when many thought that the Argentine star had made a great donation to them.
The boy’s journey has since taken him even to Pakistan, where they unsuccessfully sought asylum in the United States, or to live in other Afghan provinces, including Kabul itself, where they first fled. in a hurry in 2018, leaving at home the ball and the signed shirts that Messi had given him.
A nightmare that is just beginning for Murtaza’s family
The child’s family and Murtaza himself say that sometimes, during the night, the young man wakes up screaming for fear of the insurgents: “In my dream I see the Taliban coming, knocking on the door and yelling at me.”
After the Taliban took full control of Kabul in the past August 15th and after the total withdrawal of international forces from Afghanistan this week, in order also for regular evacuation flights, the child’s family now fears Islamists will start door-to-door records.
“What will happen to us? We were already under threat,” he explained Mahdia Ahmadi |, A sister of the 22-year-old, who detailed that when they arrived in Kabul two months ago, the city was safe, and they even had police and soldiers protecting them.
Now “We don’t have anyone,” and whenever “they knock on the door, Murtaza thinks they are the Taliban and runs to me or my mother to hide,” the young woman assures.
Threats prevented even Murtaza from attending school for years, and now the family just wants to leave the country to be able to take refuge in a safe place away from the Taliban who, according to some allegations, have begun to retaliate.
Tens of thousands of ancients government employees, members of the security forces, activists or journalists already they have left the country on some of the recently concluded international evacuation flights, and many dream of fleeing somehow.