Bamiyan, I am lucky to be alive after terrorist attack.

The group I travelled with, and I experienced the worst possible scenario when we visited Bamiyan: a terrorist attack. The day before, we had a lovely day in Kabul, and this day, crossing the mountains to go to Bamiyan. The landscape was fantastic, and the colours in nature were terrific. I did take a few pictures of our group during the day, but in respect of those who died, I will not put any of those here.

Arriving in Bamiyan

Bamiyan became famous when the Taliban demolished the world’s most extensive standing Buddha statues with dynamite in 2001. I thankfully took the above picture from my hotel room when I arrived, before we were supposed to go to this UNESCO site. We never reached the site, and I never returned to my hotel room. In the picture, you can see the two niches carved out around the missing statues.

Bamjyan is also the heartland of the Hazaras. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan and one of the most persecuted ones. Massacres of the groups have occurred various times across previous decades. They are not in favour of the Taliban. They are also more relaxed about dress codes, and after what we learned, they manage to keep their girls in secret schools. The Hazaras are easily recognised by the slight Asian appearance on their faces, a bit like Mongolians.

Ready for take-off

Between two tourist attractions, we stopped in the centre to take some passport photos we would need the following day when we were supposed to go to a National Park. Some returned straight to the cars, while some in the group went across the street to a market. They came back, and everyone in our car was there, apart from the driver.

They had not managed to close the car door when we heard rat-tat-tat-tat. At first, it sounded like fireworks, but then we saw this man coming against us with a rifle. He was shooting wild around him, and the last I saw of him was shooting into the photoshop we had just been into. The four of us in the back seats lay down as low as we could to hide. The guy in the front seat managed to get out of the car. It is difficult to say how long it lasted, but I thought this might be my last minute.

It felt like an eternity.

The shooting carried on for still some time, but it sounded a bit further away when the shooter was hunting for the guy from our car who got out. Then the shooting came our way again, and the gunman for sure knew we were inside the vehicle, so he walked along our car, shooting through the wall of the vehicle. The woman in the seat in front of me and I got shot at this point. Finally, the shooting stopped, but we did not know if it had been only one or several terrorists. I was also afraid to look up if he was standing, waiting to shoot again.

No more shooting, what now?

No one came over to the car. I locked carefully up, and I saw some Taliban passing by, just looking at us. We started to whisper that we had to get out of the car. The woman in front of me was more injured than me, and she was saying she had terrible pain and was losing focus. I was shot in the upper thigh, and the leg of my trousers was drenched in blood. To my surprise, it was not so painful. We got out of the car and were met by two Taliban men who told the woman and me to get into the back of their car so they could drive us to the hospital. When you are in a country where so many men are carrying weapons, you don’t know who to trust.

In the hospital

So many unusual things happened in the hospital, so I cannot tell it all here. The driver of our car lay in the next bed; the poor man was moaning in terrible pain, and he died shortly after. I got my ex-rays done, and it was decided that we would be moved to Kabul. Because of bad weather, they could not take us by helicopter, so an ambulance took us for a four-hour ride, which, at times, was a very bumpy road. At this time, I did not know how many had died. First, the following evening, I was told that three Spanish tourists, two local drivers, and a Taliban had died. Four other tourists were injured, including me. At the time of writing, one month after the incident, one elderly woman is still in a coma; she has been transported back to Spain.

Emergency Hospital

We arrived at the Emergency Hospital in Kabul around 4 am. The EU runs the Hospital, and they specialise in gunshot and land mine damages. We were also met by The Chargé d’affaires of the European Union Delegation to Afghanistan. She had a picture of my passport on her mobile and said I was in safe hands now and that she had been in touch with the Norwegian ambassador who stays in Islamabad. My stay in the hospital lasted for four days. I have so many pleasant memories from these days; I felt so much love and care from the staff, but also from fellow patients, some with much more severe injuries than myself. At the same time, I had to fight a battle with VG, the Norwegian tabloid newspaper. They made up stories for my employer and family to get some information.

Afterthoughts

What happened to us was very unfortunate and absolutely a tragedy for the families that lost their loved ones. After a few days, the Isis took responsibility for the terror attack. Whether it was them or not, I do not know. Taliban says they have arrested some suspects. Who knows whether there will be any justice in this case? I do not support the Taliban, but Afghanistan is a very complex country, and I do not think there will be any suitable forms of governance there for a long time. But those who run hotels and the guides are happy that the tourists are returning. And I do not regret going there, all considered.

I have had to cut out many details to avoid making this post too long, but I hope I convey some of the horror and thoughts that went through my head. Maybe I will have to tell the whole story one day.

Some thanks are in order.

I must thank the Emergency Hospital for its excellent treatment and wonderful staff. My gratitude also goes to the Chargé d’affaires of the European Union for how we were treated when we were discharged from the hospital and came to their small garden of Eden with great food and support to get out of the country. The travel company we travelled with also did what they could for us, and I can’t entirely agree with some of the hustle they have received from authorities in the aftermath.

PS: I did not have severe injuries. The bullets they use explode when they hit the target, the car, so the bullet spreads out. I got the main part inside my tight, but it did not hit any bones. It was stuck there, so they had to go in from two sides to clean up and pick out the bullet. I also got some fractions of the bullet on both my underarms. A small part of the bullet also found its way into my bag; my sunglasses and other things inside the bag were damaged. You can also see what the pullover looked like, with a small fraction of the bullet stuck at the back.