Kiana Hayeri

Photographer

www.kianahayeri.com

"The Taliban Made Me Fight"

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Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

Nationality: Iranian-Canadian

Biography: Kiana (b.1988) grew up in Tehran, Iran and migrated to Toronto while she was still a teenager. Faced with the challenges of adapting to a new environment, she took up photography as a way of bridging the gap in language and culture. After an... MORE

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

1 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | Habibullah (14) has only been at Kabul's JRC for 6 days so far. He was recruited by Taliban and was assigned to blow up a bomb in Kunduz, but the shrapnels caught up with him and injured him on his left leg, right arm and the right side of his face. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

2 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | Zabihullah (15), has been in Kabul JRC for 9 months now, awaiting trial for political charges, which often means cooperation with Taliban and other insurgency groups. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

3 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | Abdul Wahid (15) has been at Kabul JRC for one year. He admits that he was a member of Tahreek-e Taliban, a fraction of Taliban that fights Pakistani government, and has carried explosives for them. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

4 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | On the left, Nadeem (17) is from Pakistan and is convicted with a political charge, which usually means crimes related to terrorism. He has been in Kabul JRC for 7 months so far but hopes to go back to Pakistan, despite knowing the risks that he may be executed by the Pakistani government. On the right, Muslim (14) from Kunar, also charged with political charges. He admitted that the long scar on his head was self-harmed in his early days at the JRC, when he cut himself with a razor. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

5 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | Saeed Rahim (16) is convicted of a political case, usually related to terrorism, however denies the charges. He has been at Kabul JRC for 5 months. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | ...ying to become suicide bombers.

6 of 6 © 2023 Kiana Hayeri

KABUL | AFGHANISTAN | 8/8/18 | Kamran (17) has been at Kabul JRC for 21 months so far. He admits that he belong to a criminal gang that would take orders from anyone who would pay. He has killed people. He had implanted three bomb/IED, but only 2 was blown up and no one was killed. He also smuggles drugs and wants to be known by people as a drug dealer, not a murderer. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them were accused of trying to become suicide bombers.

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Public Story

"The Taliban Made Me Fight"

Copyright Kiana Hayeri 2023

Date of Work Aug 2018 - Aug 2018

Updated Aug 2021

Location kabul

Topics Spotlight

The boys in what Badam Bagh officials call the suicide bombers wing ranged in age from 12 to 17. Their cases were in various stages; some had been convicted and were serving their sentences, while others were awaiting trial. At the time of our visit, 47 boys were being held in the Badam Bagh juvenile detention center in Kabul as national security threats. Most were charged with planting, carrying or wearing bombs, and many of them, like Muslim, were accused of trying to become suicide bombers. “I am not a suicider,” Muslim said. “The Taliban made me fight for them.” Nearly all of the boys arrested on charges related to suicide attacks were educated in madrasas, conservative religious schools that can serve as recruiting and indoctrination centers for suicide bombers. For the authorities, children like him present a conundrum: what to do with them when they finish their sentences, which often range from two to 10 years. Many will be released just as they reach adulthood, when they are even more capable of causing mayhem. Afghan prisons have fewer adults accused of plotting or carrying out suicide bombings than children, although that may be because the adult bombers are more successful at killing themselves.

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