'My heart was breaking': Maritimers with Afghan connections worried about women and girls

HALIFAX -

More than an ocean away from the country of her birth, the president of the Afghan Society of Halifax stays connected as best she can, often through shared videos and information on social media sites.

Gulmakai M. Sarvar is still astonished at the breathtaking speed the Taliban took over the country after the U.S. pulled out, a decision that still baffles her.

"They did fight over 20 years with the Taliban, and then left over? It is unbelievable."

Unbelievable, too, are the images emerging from that country, although there was relative-calm at the airport in Kabul on Tuesday.

Still, scores of desperate people continue to flock there, hoping to get out, despite Taliban assurances of an "amnesty" across Afghanistan.

The United Nations is skeptical.

"It's very early now, it's very fluid. It's very hard to say what is happening exactly," said Rupert Colville, a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from Geneva

Celebrated Pakistani Activist and Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai was more blunt.

"I am deeply concerned about the situation in Afghanistan right now, especially for the safety of women and girls there," she said.

Tens of millions of others clearly agree, with the hashtag #AfghanWomen trending on Twitter and other sites.

Older generations remember the Taliban's ultra-conservative Islamic views, which included severe restrictions on women as well as stonings, amputations and public executions.

Stories are already circulating that not much has changed, with the group reportedly collecting information about younger females.

"Each fighter apparently deserves four wives," said Halifax entrepreneur and human rights activist Barb Stegemann from her home in Bedford.

Intimately connected to the country since her best friend survived a horrific attack, Stegemann has been buying essential oils from Afghanistan for years for her fragrance brand, The 7 Virtues.

With the U.S. gone, she says the world has to step up to protect the vulnerable.

"So, the core of the solution, is the international leadership getting very serious about not accepting corruption - and I'm really not seeing that," she said.

Frustration, too, at theAfghan Society of Halifax,where nearly all news from home these days is bad.

"I saw the videos on social media -- my heart was breaking," said Gulmakai.