Afghan-American activist recalls 19 relatives lost in early U.S. bombing

Nearly a quarter century after the September 11 attacks, Masuda Sultan, an Afghan-American activist based in New York, revisits the personal loss she suffered when U.S. forces bombed her home village outside Kandahar, killing 19 of her family members. Sultan first shared her story in 2002 and now collaborates with Rita Lasar, a 9/11 victim's sister, to push for acknowledgment and reparations for Afghan civilians killed by U.S. operations.

The U.S. war in Afghanistan, the longest in American history, ended in 2021, after which the Taliban regained control and imposed stricter limits on women. Sultan cautions that the world must not abandon Afghanistan as it did in the 1990s, emphasizing the need to support Afghan women and civil society. She calls for sustained international engagement to prevent further marginalization of the Afghan population.