Dozens of women widowed by the Afghan war have been given a lifeline by the army, stitching military uniforms indistinguishable from the ones their husbands died in.
About 120 women are employed by the Afghan Ministry of Defense at a factory in Kabul to make uniforms for service personnel and prisoners.
Many are widows, but all are related to someone who was serving in the military and either died or was invalided out.
Photo: AFP
Roya Naimati, a 31-year-old with four children, was given an apartment in the capital and a job at the factory when her husband drowned in a river during a military operation.
“Initially I lost hope and was wondering how to feed and bring up my little children,” she told reporters. “I’m thankful to the defense ministry for this job.”
With her five-year-old daughter next to her at the sewing machine, Naimati is now the breadwinner of her family, earning 12,000 Afghanis (US$155) a month.
Families in Afghanistan usually rely on men for financial support.
Afghanistan has fought a two-decade insurgency by the Taliban since the militants were ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001.
Despite supposed peace talks between the warring sides, violence has surged across the country, with thousands of soldiers and civilians killed.
The exact number of Afghan security personnel killed in the war is unknown, but in 2019, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that more than 45,000 had “paid the ultimate sacrifice” since his election five years earlier.
“I feel sad when I’m sewing because this was the uniform my son was killed in,” 37-year-old Mahbooba Sadid Parwani said.
“Although my son died, I am happy that other young people are fighting against the traitor Taliban,” Parwani said.
Samira, who like many Afghans goes by one name, shares the same conflicting emotions provoked by the work that has allowed her to support her family.
“The Taliban might wear this prisoner uniform that I’m sewing... I do not want to even touch it, but am helpless — I have three children,” she said.
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