KABUL - Ongoing violence in parts of Baghlan province has forced dozens of Dand-e-Ghori and Dand Shahabuddin families to flee their houses and take refuge in Azhda Kotal area in Pul-e-Khumri, the capital of the province.
For these residents, many of whom now live in tents, life is extremely difficult. As such they have appealed to government to conduct military operations in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand Shahabuddin and once and for all clear the areas of insurgents.
"We want an end to this war with Taliban so we can return to our homes; our situation is so bad here and we all get sick and are living in the rain and storms," said Gulbudin, one of the displaced residents.
"At the moment we have a little bit of flour and cooking oil. During the day we burn due to the sun and at night time we can't sleep for fear of snakes and scorpions. Even last night I killed a big scorpion," said Murad, another displaced resident.
TOLOnews correspondent Hamid Shirzai visited the refugees.
One woman, who was shot three times in the leg and had her other leg broken before fleeing her home, said: "There is no government to bring peace to Afghanistan and let the people to live in peace. For how long should we tolerate war. People's kids were killed, Ghani sits calmly and Abdullah doesn't know the pain of losing a son."
Affected children in turn said that they spend their nights killing snakes and scorpions.
"War broke out in our village and Taliban made their stronghold in our house. The forces were targeting our houses and all the people left their houses and we don't have anything," said one displaced child, Khan.
"We want peace so we can return to our houses, there is lots of snakes and the sun is very hot, we are really scared," said Ghulam, another displaced child.
Asked about their plight, the Baghlan police chief Mohammad Ewaz Nazari said: "Obviously when there is war there is misery, we never forced people to leave their houses."
But battles between insurgents and security forces have been ongoing for months in Dand-e-Ghori and Dand-e-Shahabuddin and large parts of the area remain under Taliban control. (Tolonews)