Peace, but not at our cost: Afghan women fear Taliban return

As US troops prepare to leave Afghanistan, opening the door for a potential Taliban comeback, women across the war-torn country are nervous about losing their hard-won freedoms in the pursuit of peace.

The militants were in power for around five years until the US invasion of 2001. They ruled Afghanistan with an iron fist that turned women into virtual prisoners under a strict interpretation of sharia law.

The Taliban's fall transformed women's lives, much more so in urban areas like Kabul than in conservative rural Afghanistan.

But across the country, women remain wary of the insurgents, desperate to see an end to the violence, but fearful of paying a heavy price.

Under the Taliban, women were barred from seeking education or work -- rights that Afghan female professionals are fiercely protective of today.

In the western city of Herat, saleswoman Setara Akrimi, 32, told AFP: "I will be very happy if peace comes and the Taliban stop killing our people." "But if the
"There are thousands of women like me in Afghanistan, we are all worried."
"We are all Afghans and want peace."
Furthermore, she added: "The young generation has changed, and will not allow the Taliban to enforce their old ideology upon us."