It was early morning in Kabul, Afghanistan, when Fatima Amiri first heard the gunshots from inside her classroom. She and tons of of different college students had been getting ready for faculty entrance exams on the time, however then the women started screaming in panic. Amiri swiftly stood as much as calm the category down, however when she rotated, she noticed a person with a gun intentionally firing at college students.

“I used to be afraid; I attempted to take shelter below the desks when an explosion occurred,” the 17-year-old mentioned.

Amiri misplaced a watch and an eardrum on account of the explosion. Her jaw was additionally badly broken. In all, 54 different college students, principally women, had been killed.

As a minority, Shiites in Afghanistan have been focused and persecuted for a very long time.

Amiri lives within the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in western Kabul metropolis. Terrorists have been concentrating on Shiite mosques, colleges, athletic golf equipment, and cultural facilities. A horrific assault on a maternity ward in 2020 killed 20 civilians, together with ladies and their new child infants.

Amiri knew attending faculty from a safety perspective was dangerous. Nonetheless, she by no means thought that someday a terrorist can be making an attempt to kill her inside a classroom.

Undeterred, two weeks after the assault, Amiri confirmed up for a college entrance examination and was declared one of many high scorers.

“I wish to inform the terrorists that irrespective of how a lot oppression you’d impose on us, you’ll be able to’t defeat us!” Amiri mentioned. “Your assaults encourage us to rise many times.”

The UN Safety Council and different world leaders condemned the assault on the Kaaj schooling heart in Kabul, the place Amiri went for 2 years to arrange for the college entrance examination, however no strong safety measures had been taken by the political regimes in Afghanistan to make sure the protection of the Shiites who now really feel extra marginalized below the Taliban.

In recognition of her braveness and resilience, the BBC positioned Amiri on a listing of 100 inspiring and influential ladies from world wide for 2022.

The assault got here within the wake of a ban by the Taliban on women colleges past the sixth grade in Afghanistan after the group swept into energy in the summertime of 2021. However younger Afghans like Amiri are nonetheless hopeful that the worldwide group will put strain on Taliban leaders to respect the best of ladies to schooling and the best of ladies to work.

“I attraction to the worldwide group to do one thing for Afghan ladies and women,” she mentioned. “Hear their voice and take motion. It is virtually two years now that colleges are closed for women. There may be the chance that the college might be closed too. At the moment, the scenario is tough. Afghan ladies and women can’t work.”

Amiri’s prediction of a restriction on larger schooling for women was proved proper after the Taliban imposed an entire ban on ladies’s entry to college on Dec. 20. 5 days later, the regime additionally ordered nongovernmental organizations to cease ladies from coming to work. Though the ban on ladies’s entry to schooling and work sparked robust condemnation from the worldwide group, Taliban leaders have mentioned that they won’t compromise.