In the Hands of the Taliban by Yvonne Ridley

Author:Yvonne Ridley [RIDLEY, YVONNE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-909396-70-8
Publisher: Pavilion Books
Published: 2001-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

7

CAPTIVITY

As the car drove away from the Pakistan border I became numb with fear and my whole body seemed to switch off. Maybe it was a defence mechanism, but I remained totally calm on the outside. Inside, the adrenaline was shooting round my system and I could hear my heart thumping as I tried to work out the best course of action.

My train of thought was shattered by semiautomatic gunfire, which ripped through the air. Our car had become part of a convoy and was being led by a lorry load of young soldiers screaming triumphantly, ‘Amreeka spy, Amreeka spy!’ Oh, great, I thought, they think I’m a bloody American. Well I needed that like I needed a hole in the head.

Just then I felt a very sharp nip on my arm. It was the Afghan guide. He was waving and crossing his hands and putting his hand to his mouth. I got the message instantly and if he had taken any notice of me from the beginning he would have known what the plan was in the event of our arrest: ‘We are all on a need-to-know basis and I don’t need to know your names,’ I had told them through Pasha. ‘The less I know about you the better, in the unlikely event we are caught.’

There was more gunfire and the excited rabble then began chanting that phrase so favoured by young Muslims during Peshawar demonstrations: ‘Osama zindabad, Osama zindabad!’ they crowed, which means long life to Mr bin Laden. What about long life to Yvonne Ridley? No bloody chance.

The car stopped and Jan was removed. I didn’t think I would ever see him again. Another man got in the car and sat next to me. I don’t think he was a Taliban soldier and he wasn’t wearing one of those heavy turbans – which, by the way, I think we might see reflected on the fashion catwalks of Europe for 2002.

So, fashion tip aside, I had the Afghan guide on one side and this oily creature on the other. The Afghan continued to nip me hard and twist my skin. I had already got the message and if he continued I swore I’d throttle him if it was the last thing I did.

The car stopped again and Jan was returned to the vehicle. He looked OK. It was a pleasant surprise that he was back in our company. Sadly, his return meant that I was squeezed next to this other man, who had begun to touch me. At first I thought it was an accident, but then I realised he was trying to grope me. I hoped he would stop although at that moment I thought it was the least of my problems.

The Afghan squeezed and nipped my skin hard, and then I snapped. I had to get a message through that I would keep my mouth shut. So I bellowed, ‘Does anyone in this car understand English?’ Of course there was silence, so I continued: ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on.

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