Afghanistan Oral History
The Day the Sky Fell Silent
A Mother's Account of the Dasht-e-Barchi Attack
Summary
Fatima Rezaie recounts the devastating suicide bombing at the Mawoud Academy educational center in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on August 15, 2018. She describes the morning her daughter left for her university entrance exam preparation class and never returned. Fatima details the chaotic hours that followed — the frantic phone calls, the overwhelmed hospitals, and the moment she identified her daughter's belongings among the wreckage. She reflects on the Hazara community's resilience in the face of repeated targeted attacks, the failure of security forces to protect civilians, and the lasting psychological impact on families who lost children that day.
Full Transcript
Hamid Fidel
Thank you for being here today, Fatima jan. I know this is not easy. Can you start by telling us about that morning — August 15, 2018?
Dr. Amin Ahmadi
That morning was like any other. My daughter Zahra woke up early. She was always the first one up. She had her entrance exam preparation class at Mawoud Academy — she wanted to study medicine. She said to me, 'Madar, pray for me. Today we have a practice exam.' I made her breakfast, she kissed my hand, and she left. That was the last time I saw her alive.
Hamid Fidel
When did you first learn something had happened?
Dr. Amin Ahmadi
Around ten in the morning, my neighbor came running to our house. She was screaming. She said there had been an explosion near the academy. I tried calling Zahra — the phone rang and rang. Then it stopped ringing altogether. I ran out into the street still wearing my house clothes. My husband tried to stop me but I pushed him away. I had to get to her.
Hamid Fidel
What did you find when you arrived at the area?
Dr. Amin Ahmadi
Chaos. Complete chaos. There were ambulances, people carrying bodies, blood on the street. The police had blocked the road but mothers were breaking through the barriers. I remember one woman collapsed right next to me — she had found her son's shoe. Just his shoe. I searched every hospital in the area. It took me seven hours to find Zahra. Seven hours of not knowing if my daughter was alive or dead.
Hamid Fidel
How has this event changed your community?
Dr. Amin Ahmadi
We in Dasht-e-Barchi have buried too many children. After Mawoud, after the attack on Sayed ul-Shuhada school, after so many bombings in our mosques — people are broken but they refuse to stop sending their children to school. That is our resistance. Every morning a Hazara mother sends her child to school, she is making an act of defiance. We will not be erased through fear. But the nightmares — they never leave. I still wake up hearing that explosion.
Hamid Fidel
What do you want the world to know?
Dr. Amin Ahmadi
That these were not numbers. Every single one of those 34 students killed that day had a name, had dreams, had a family waiting for them at home. My Zahra wanted to be a doctor so she could treat women who couldn't afford healthcare. She was seventeen. The world moved on in a day. We never will.