Children of Kabul - An Uncertain Future Newsround Specials

CHILDREN OF KABUL CBA V081Y/01 BF000000

I'm travelling thousands of miles back to where I was born.

Since then, it's become one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Afghanistan.

For over a decade, British soldiers have been fighting here,

but this year, 2014, the British Army will leave.

I'm going back to the capital city Kabul

to meet children who've known nothing but war

to find out what this year means to them.

I think the future will be good and like other countries.

And I'll discover the real dangers of everyday life in Kabul.

There's been an explosion somewhere in the city

and we have to get to somewhere safe.

I left Afghanistan when I was six.

A group called the Taliban had a big influence on the country

and my family thought it was too dangerous to stay,

so we escaped to Britain.

Arriving back, it seems little has changed.

I've got my helmet right here

and my very heavy life vest.

This is bulletproof,

and I have to put this on whenever it gets quite dangerous.

The British and American armies came here in 2001

to fight against the Taliban

because they were linked to terrorists.

The Taliban were quickly removed from Kabul,

but the fighting has continued and, despite the high level of security,

the Taliban still manage to regularly attack the city.

There are police and military checkpoints

to make sure that people like the Taliban are kept out

and the city is kept safe.

-OK?

-Thanks, thanks.

-Thank you.

If you want to know what Afghan children think -

you come where they are.

There are hundreds of them around here all playing different sports,

so I've just come to find out

what they think 2014 holds for Afghanistan.

TRANSLATION: We want to thank the foreign troops

for all they have done for us.

We also want them to go.

-TRANSLATION:

-A lot will change by the end of this year

and I hope that the people in charge

will build a safe Afghanistan

with less violence and suicide attacks.

But some of the children here

are scared about what might happen when the troops leave

and only the Afghan Army are left to fight the Taliban.

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

He's just said to me that, you know,

as soon as the troops leave he's worried, he's scared that...

the Taliban will come back

and it'll be the same war, the same fighting all over again,

and he's really worried about that.

The Taliban are followers of Islam,

but their views are much more extreme than most Muslims.

They banned things like television and music.

They continue to fight,

and thousands of innocent kids have been caught up in the battle.

Many children travel to these specialist hospitals in Kabul

to be treated for war wounds.

Salaam alaikum.

'Some, like 13-year-old Obaidullah, were injured whilst playing.

'A rocket attack killed his sister and brother and damaged his leg.'

TRANSLATION: I heard the sound of the rocket,

then I saw it explode.

A piece of the rocket flew at me and I felt it hit at me.

I thought my leg would get better,

I just didn't think my leg would get cut off. I was heartbroken.

I thought my life was over and I was as good as dead.

Children lose their lives in war,

or they lose their parents.

Either way, it's us children that suffer.

'Obaidullah has been waiting for three years for this day to come.

'Because today he's getting a new leg.'

That's it.

TRANSLATION: 'It's joyful, isn't it? I am happy today.

'I don't even feel like it's not a part of me.'

'This war has seen many children injured by the fighting,

'but something that's really shocked me

'is that sometimes children are actually carrying out attacks.'

I'm on my way to a local children's prison

and there are kids there being held

suspected of being involved in terrorist attacks.

It's just quite nerve-wracking.

It's quite nerve-racking to be here at the moment,

because these kids, they've been involved in this war

in such a way, in such a heavy way.

They've been involved in the attacks themselves.

I never, ever really thought

that I'd ever get to see or meet kids like this.

'This 15-year-old boy spent a month in a training camp

'being encouraged to risk his own life fighting for the Taliban.'

TRANSLATION: Our teachers told us

that the foreign troops are the enemy

and they are here in Afghanistan to destroy Islam.

They will not leave us in peace, we must stand up against them.

'He was on his way to carry out a suicide attack

'when he was caught by the police.'

TRANSLATION: Like everyone, I love my family,

but I love God more.

And they told me that doing this would make God happy.

Did you know that this was right or wrong?

No, I was too young.

If you got released from here, would you do it again?

No, I'd go home and go back to school and play cricket every day.

I find it hard to understand how a cricket-mad boy

could be persuaded to do such a terrible thing.

Kids here have to grow up very fast.

The idea of children being injured by rockets

or carrying out suicide attacks

would be unimaginable in most countries.

But in other ways the war has made Kabul

feel like any British city.

TRANSLATION: We are the first girls to skate on the streets of Kabul.

'Over the last ten years,

'lots of Western culture has been imported,'

but my favourite has to be

Afghanistan's answer to the X Factor.

It's a show called Afghan Star

and I'm about to get behind-the-scenes access.

Because music and television were banned under the Taliban,

a show like Afghan Star could never have existed.

But now it's watched by more people than Britain's X Factor

and is the most popular show in all of Afghanistan.

I've been told that this little black room is the make-up room

and it's where Anahita, my favourite contestant, is.

So hopefully we'll get to see her.

How are you? There she is.

-Hi.

-How are you? Oh, I'm sorry.

I won't disturb you. How are you doing?

I'm a little nervous, because someone is going to be eliminated.

-So someone's being eliminated?

-Yes.

-Well, you're going to be amazing.

I'm going to be out there cheering for you.

So, good luck and I'll see you afterwards.

CHEERING

'Unlike our X Factor, not only can people vote for who they like,

'but they can also vote for who they want to leave.'

'And that's not the only difference.'

CHEERING

'Afghanistan is still an Islamic country'

and so they don't believe in mixing girls and boys.

That's why the audience,

girls are sitting in one corner

and the boys are sitting in another corner.

'In Afghanistan, girls have always had morals to live by.

'Many people believe that Ana

'shouldn't be allowed to take part in shows like Afghan Star

'because she's a girl.'

The reactions and the feedback

that I'm getting from most of the people who are here in Afghanistan

are not that much good.

Some of them are trying to...

Some of them are trying to ban me from coming on the stage.

-To ban you?

-Yeah.

-Why?

They are thinking that girls do not have the right

to participate in such kind of shows. Some of them warn me...

When you say warn, what do you mean?

-Have they threatened you?

-Yeah.

They were saying that

if you come out, if we get a opportunity

to find you,

then they might do something...

But I want to ignore all those things.

And I do not want to talk more about this,

because I'm getting more scared.

I want to concentrate on my work, and I will.

Cos I love it.

CHEERING

Anahita's in the bottom three,

-so...her dreams could end right now.

-SHOUTING

Anahita...

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

She's been saved by the judges, she sings for another week.

This is no different to what you get back home,

it's still incredibly tense.

Ana's story shows how new freedoms aren't accepted by everybody.

Give me a hug.

Even the everyday things can't be taken for granted.

This school has been opened for nearly six years,

but not everyone believes that girls have a right to come here.

These students worry that when the foreign troops leave

the Taliban may return and close their school.

I think if the Taliban came back,

we might have to go underground

to study and continue our school.

And I think we might have some problems,

or we wouldn't be secure,

because Taliban don't like girls to go to school.

What do you think?

If they are Taliban or the other people,

they are going to put a bomb...

Or put many other things...

inside or next to the school.

So we have to... We all have to stand against them and tell them,

"No, it's also girls that should go to school."

But, you know, in the UK, where I'm from, it's completely normal.

Wow, it's very good.

One day in Afghanistan

it will be also normal for girls and boys to go to school

and I think we are the ones who are going to make it.

These schoolgirls are great,

so I asked them and Ana to join me for my last night in Kabul.

I'm just waiting for my favourite girls to turn up

and we're going to do a bit of shopping.

And there they are, hanging out!

Hi, hello. How are you?

Look at those shoes!

This one is for you? Yeah?

# Baby, take a chance I will never, ever know

# I got money in my hands that I really want to blow. #

Justin Bieber!

'Spending time in a modern mall with the girls

'makes me feel like I could be anywhere in the world.

'But just as we started to forget we were in a warzone

'there was a shocking reminder.'

It's good.

SIRENS WAIL

We have to go. There's been a bomb.

Just leave it alone. Let's go.

There's been an explosion somewhere in the city

and there's sirens and police cars going in all directions

and we have to get to somewhere safe.

It just happened so quickly.

I'm not even sure if it's real or not.

MAN SHOUTS

So the blast was quite powerful, actually.

I was literally just over 100 metres away.

And the eeriest thing,

the strangest thing of all,

the thing that's really hard to accept...

is that I was here a couple of days ago having dinner.

Last night the Taliban killed 21 people here.

But in this city the children have become used to these attacks

and life doesn't stop for long.

20 years ago my family and I left here for a safer life.

Today's kids of Kabul are again facing an uncertain future.

Despite this, the children I've met

seem the same as children everywhere.

They want a country where they can play, where they can learn,

follow their dreams...

..and just be children.