Kabul, Afghanistan — During the historic ground offensive in Afghanistan’s fierce three-decade civil war that destroyed much of Kabul and killed an estimated 100,000 people, she could not leave the city that bore the brunt of the fighting.
Khalida Popal lived inside the presidential palace with members of her family who were foreign officials, and she and the former national team captain carried heavy weapons to help with ground combat, even as the Taliban swept through Kabul during the 1992 civil war.
Khalida Popal took part in the 1992 Afghanistan civil war, but to what extent does she support a complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan?
Now Afghan National Football Federation President, Khairullah Ekrami was born in the Kabul International Airport and grew up there. What role did Afghan football and Afghanistan play in Afghan history?
With a view toward the survival of our country and its success in returning to normalcy we ask the American government to honor Afghanistan’s cause and also the Afghan people’s nation and allow all of our people to recover from the civil war. Just like the British did during the Afghan war and the Soviet Union did during the Afghan war, we are sure that it is possible and helpful for you and your government to lift the sanctions that you imposed on Afghanistan and even help our country to open a new chapter and develop its economy and to open new markets.
Ahmad Shamsi Wahidi is an Afghan sports journalist living in Washington, D.C. who visits Afghanistan frequently. You can follow him on Twitter.