Witness: The dream of the child "Afghan Messi" turns into a nightmare



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The story of Mourtada Ahmadi, known around the world as the "little Afghan messi" in 2016. But after fulfilling his dream and met the star of Argentine football Lionel Messi, the boy is suffering today from the nightmare countless displaced people in the Taliban conflict in Afghanistan. .

Murtada Ahmadi wears an Argentine shirt made from a plastic bag and carries on his back the number 10 Barcelona star filled with media and social networks. His sudden fame allowed him to meet his star late 2016 in Qatar in a friendly match with the Spanish club.

Lionel Messi, UNICEF's goodwill ambbadador for Murthy, received full equipment for Barcelona and the jersey and track of the Argentinian team. This moment of happiness quickly dissipated after the Ahmadi family was forced to flee their district of Jaguri in November, fleeing the Taliban attack in Ghazni province, south of the city. Afghan capital.

Save our lives …

AFP met Ahmed and his family in Kabul, who rented a room in a shared house. Murtada's mother said they had been saved in a hurry after hearing gunshots. "We have not been able to take our things in. We have only saved our lives."

The Ahmadi family belongs to the Shiite community Hazara. In Jaguri, the Sunni Taliban launched an armed attack against Hazara militias, forcing 4,000 families to flee, according to the United Nations. The armed attack lasted days and days after the death of soldiers, rebels, militias and civilians.

"Families have been repeatedly displaced in search of safe places," said the UN in a short report.

The Ahmadi family's fears that the rebels were looking for Murtaza have grown. "We do not know why the Taliban want it since their celebrity," said Shafiqa, Morteza's mother, trembling. We heard that if they stopped, they would cut it to pieces. "

Under Taliban control between 1996 and 2001, they prevented the exercise of sport and turned Kabul football stadium into a place known for stoning and execution.

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Shafiqa claims to have been forced to hide her son's face during their trip to avoid identification, adding that the family first went to a mosque in Bamyan City and then to Kabul six. days later. Among the things that she has left are the gifts of Lionel Messi.

"I want to become Messi"

Although Afghan security forces have repelled the Taliban attack, the Ahmadiyya family no longer feels safe. Before fleeing the armed threat that followed the attack, Shafika lived in fear that her son would be kidnapped. Everyone thought that Messi was giving us a lot of money and threatening to kidnap Mortada.

The family had already fled to neighboring Pakistan to seek asylum "in a safe country", but reluctantly returned to Jaguri for lack of money and was working in Pakistan. Arif, Mortaza's father, decided to face the threats, which led the child to be cut off from school for fear of being kidnapped.

Murtaza is now among more than 300,000 internally displaced people, 58 per cent of whom are under 18, who have fled their homes since the beginning of the year due to the Taliban conflict. , according to the latest report from the UN.

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