A number of Ghazni residents who fled the city in the past few days and made their way to Kabul said the situation in the province was unbearable and that the Taliban had cut their electricity and water supplies. 

The residents said Taliban fighters also set fire to many buildings in the city as well as houses and that residents were in a desperate situation.  

Fatima, one resident, fled with her family and have sought refuge in Kabul. She said to get to Kabul they had to travel through extremely dangerous areas where security forces and Taliban were embroiled in heavy clashes.  

Fatima said they spent two days in the city amid ongoing clashes and had neither water nor electricity.  

According to her, two of her sons were killed a while back in a bomb blast and now her other son is still in Ghazni city. She said she is extremely worried about him.

“Our city has burned down, our homes have burned down, and we have lost everything. What do we need to do for government to hear our voices?” asked Fatima. 

According to residents, the bodies of soldiers and civilians also lay on the streets of the city for days as people were too afraid to retrieve them.  

“They (Taliban) steal people’s belongings. They were entering people’s houses and taking food,” a resident of Ghazni said. 

Residents also said the people in the city are running out of food – this in addition to not having contact with the rest of the country as cellphone services have been disconnected.

For many Kabul residents, they are also extremely worried about their friends and relatives in Ghazni.

“We do not know about our relatives. Right now two of our family members are missing. They came with us last week from Ghazni, but only half the way, then they disappeared. We do not know whether they went back to Ghazni, came to Kabul or have been taken away by Taliban,” one Ghazni resident in Kabul said.  

In the meantime a number of female civil rights activists on Monday held a sit-in protest in busy Darulaman Road, close to Deh Mazang circle, in Kabul city to protest against the ongoing battle in Ghazni city. 

Roshan Ghaznawi, one of the activists said all her relatives are in Ghazni and she has no information about them. 

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meanwhile said the Ghazni situation is worrying and that the estimated 270,000 people living in the city are facing a serious lack of water and food. They also said the hospital is running out of medicine.