Female Afghan presenter who interviewed Taliban leader flees the country

Beheshta Arghand, a female news presenter at TOLO News, has left Afghanistan according to CNN.

“If the Taliban do what they said – what they promise – and the situation becomes better, and I know I am safe and there is no threat for me, I will go back to my country and I will work for my country. For my people,” she said while speaking to CNN.

Talking about her experience of interviewing Taliban spokesperson, Arghand added that the interview was difficult, “but I did it for Afghan women.”

“I told myself, ‘One of us must start…If we stay in our houses or don’t go to our offices, they will say the ladies don’t want to work,’ but I said to myself, ‘Start working,’” Arghand said.

“And I said to the Taliban member, ‘We want our rights. We want to work. We want — we must —be in society. This is our right.’”

On August 17, Arghand sat down with senior Taliban representative Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad. During the interview she talked about the Taliban’s home searches in Kabul and the general situation on the ground.

TOLOnews and the Taliban making history again: Abdul Haq Hammad, senior Taliban rep, speaking to our (female) presenter Beheshta earlier this morning. Unthinkable two decades ago when they were last in charge ⁦@TOLOnews⁩ pic.twitter.com/XzREQ6ZJ1a

— Saad Mohseni (@saadmohseni) August 17, 2021