Gay Afghan: The Taliban Killed My Boyfriend

Gay men in Afghanistan have told the British news site the i about the fears they have now that the Taliban have gained control of the country. One man even told the site about the death of his boyfriend at the hands of the group after the country's capital fell on August15.

A man going by the pseudonym of Gabir, 26, told the site that he and his boyfriend, 24, were in a restaurant when the Taliban entered Kabul.

"It was 11 a.m. when the Taliban enter[ed] the city. I told him to go home, it's dangerous. He said 'OK' [and] I go to my home and he went to his," Gabir said.

Later in the day Gabir's brother told him something had happened and that Gabir should contact his friends. One of them, Gabir said, told him that the Taliban had found his boyfriend.

"He said they found him. Two cars came, with Taliban in it. They said, 'Where is his home?' and beat him so much. They took him away - nobody knows where - and then they kill him. Afterwards they said they brought the body [back] and cut his body into pieces to show the people that this is what we do with gay people," Gabir told the site.

Not believing the killing to be true, Gabir said he kept calling his boyfriend's phone.

"I knew something had happened, but I kept telling myself: 'No, he's OK, he's OK.'"

He added that eventually, he received a call from someone claiming to be part of the Taliban.

"When I answer, he start using bad words. He said, 'I know you are gay, before capturing Kabul we knew everything about you, you have three or four friends who are gay, you have a boyfriend. Once we settle here in Kabul we will not let you live. If we find you, we will kill you'."

Gabir said that he and his boyfriend had dreamed of leaving Afghanistan. "Now I'm all alone," he said. He told the i that it's only a matter of time before he's found.

"I'm 100 percent sure I'm going to die," he said. "There is no hope for me. Our people don't support us."

Gabir said he didn't want to die like this boyfriend. "We deserve to live."

To assist LGBTQ+ Afghans like Gabir, the U.K. charity GiveOut has created an emergency fund to support the LGBTQ+ refugee support organization Rainbow Railroad.

"We use all tools at our disposal to help relocate an individual who comes to us for help, including working with governments," said Kimahli Powell, executive director of Rainbow Railroad.