'Emotionally and mentally paralyzed': Afghans living in B.C. fear for family after Taliban takeover

When Vancouverite Friba Rezayee manages to get through to her loved ones in Afghanistan, she says she can hear through the phone the chilling screams of people in the city's streets punctuated by the constant pop of gunfire and the whir of military helicopters.

"They are begging for their safety, for their lives," saidRezayee, whose family is caught in Kabul.

Rezayee and many other Afghans abroad watched in horror after theTaliban swept into the capital cityearly Sunday morning. The government had collapsed, and embattled president Ashraf Ghaniwas among the mass exodus ofcitizens and foreigners out of the country.

The Canadian governmentshut down its embassy in Kabul, suspended diplomatic relationsand urged Canadians currently in Afghanistanto leave immediately.

Itwas a dark end toa costly two-decade U.S.-led campaign to remake the country.

"My heart is bleeding, and my mind cannot comprehend the fact that the world let this happen," said Rezayee, a refugee who came to Canada in 2011 and the founder and executive director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow, a local non-profit that advocates for women's rights and education in Afghanistan.

A former Olympian, sherepresented Afghanistan in judo at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens and through her charity supports female judo athletes back in her home country.

Right now, she is terrified for them.

"They will be severely punished for playing sport, for practicing judo. Taliban will punish them, from lashing them to the death penalty," said Rezayee.

"It's a very dark regime. It's beyond one's imagination."

WATCH| People rush into the Kabul airport after Taliban takes city capital:

Panic in Afghanistan prompts surge to Kabul airport

3 years ago

Duration 0:57

Thousands of people tried to jam their way into Kabul's international airport to escape the country after the Taliban's swift takeover. The French ambassador was also seen boarding a military helicopter to be moved to safety. (Reuters)

The scenes of chaos are being shared via social media and through franticphone calls between family members.

Shahla Gulistani, astudent at the University of British Columbia whose parents and siblings livein Kabul, says it's hard to discern what is happening.

"I've been feeling really overwhelmed with all of this. People in despair trying to run away and escape in any way they can," Gulistani said. "[On Sunday],I felt emotionally and mentally paralyzed."

Her brother, a university student, is no longer attending classes. Student records and data were burned and destroyed at his university to protect current and former students as the Taliban forces entered the city.

"His four years in university just came down to nothing. Same with all my friends there," she said.

The speed at which theTaliban seized nearly all of Afghanistan just over a week has come as a shock to many, saysVancouverite Rahela Nayebzadah.

"It all happened so fast," said Nayebzadah, who has family in Afghanistan. "I think that's the only thing that I'm shocked about."

Nayebzadah said her cousin and his wife have lost their jobs, his wife on account of being a woman. Previously, under Taliban rule,women were not allowed to work or study.

"Every time Italk to my cousin, I honestly think it will be the last time I speak to him," she said.

"I'm very scared. I feel very guilty because I'm so fortunate to be here. I'm so lucky and why is it happening to them? What did they do to deserve this?"

Time is crucial

On Friday,the Canadian government announcedit would take up to 20,000 refugees from Afghanistan.

The newly enhanced federal program focuses on those who have fled the country or are in the process of fleeing it. Itwill include families of interpreters who already haveimmigrated,women leaders, journalists, and members of minorities targeted by the Taliban.

Rezayee, whose family is part of the Shia Muslim minority that has been persecuted by the Taliban in the past, says time is of the essence.

She says Ottawa's offer does not go far enough, saying the announcement was scarce on details and the approval process takes too long.

"If the Canadian government actually wants to help the Afghan refugees, they should speed up the process and ease the requirement," she said.

"We are looking for any opportunity, any possibility, that my family can flee the country."