"Kim Kardashian Afghanistan" tells how I escaped: I told my fiancé to kill me and do not let them catch me alive

After fleeing to Istanbul, Afghan pop star Ariana Saeed tells her secret story to escape Kabul, fearing that her long-time threat will reveal her identity.

Still touched by memories of that bleak night, the actress - who looks like reality TV star Kim Kardashian - said in an interview with AFP: "Don't let them catch me, kill me before that happens."

For a long time, Ariana Saeed, the most famous singer in Afghanistan with 1.4 million subscribers on Instagram, has angered hardliners in her country with songs defending women's rights and denouncing the violence they are subjected to.

The artist, who heads the jury of the talent show “The Afghan Star” on the Tolo News channel, which is also targeted, is no longer able to move freely in Kabul, and she was living under strict protection, and greatly limited her movements.

On August 15, it attempted to flee for the first time after the Taliban reached Kabul, while US forces were making preparations for withdrawal.

But the plane I was on did not take off.

The 36-year-old turned to relatives before trying again the next day.

The militants of the Taliban movement are now standing at each checkpoint, armed with Kalashnikovs in the vicinity of the airport, and it has become difficult for the remaining foreign forces to contain the surging crowds.

Ariana Saeed got into a car, while her fiancé and business manager Haseeb Sayed got in another car.

The two began communicating via walkie-talkie.

Then she said to her lover, 'If they are about to catch me, please kill me with a bullet to the head.

And don't let them catch me alive.

This is what I fear more than death yet.”

The pop star knew all too well that she was taking a big risk when she launched her own fashion label in Kabul in July at a time when foreign forces were leaving her country.

"I have always been optimistic about the future, so I decided to invest in this field," she said.

That night, she dressed in black, gagged and put on fake glasses, and took one of her manager's cousins ​​with her to make them look like a normal family.

"We tried to rehearse with him, telling him that if we were caught, she says, I'm your mother, and I'm Ferishta."

When they reached the outskirts of the airport, Haseeb made his way through a large crowd.

"People were jostling and there were babies, children and women who fainted," Ariana recalls.

Soldiers initially refused to let them pass, giving priority to American citizens.

But one of the translators got to know Haseeb and told them that he is the partner of the most famous Afghan singer and her life is really in danger.

Thanks to the translator, the two partners were transferred to Qatar, then Kuwait, and the United States, before settling in Istanbul.

Ariana admits from her balcony overlooking a neighborhood in Istanbul that women in her country today are more educated and knowledgeable about their rights than they were during the previous Taliban era (1996-2001).

"Afghan women are no longer what they were 20 years ago," he declares with pride mixed with sadness, at a time when more women are taking to the streets of Kabul to demonstrate despite the Taliban's suppression of these protests.

"They will definitely not give up," she continues.

Ariana Saeed dedicated the bulk of her songs to Afghan women, and it cost her dearly.

It is no secret to Ariana, who draws inspiration from artists such as Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez, that there is a vast gap between them.

"I don't think they had to be on a music show jury with a bulletproof vest," she says.

She admits: “Our lives are different.

I would very much like my life to be like them.

But what do you do when fate wants you to be born in a war-torn country like Afghanistan?”

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