Afghans dread the ‘danger hours’ as fragile gains of 20 years slip away

As the deadline for US withdrawal looms, the Taliban are seizing their chance and the death toll rises daily

Ghazaal Habibyar's trembling hand hovered over her mobile phone, unable to type the numbers. I was afraid to hear bad news," she recalls of that morning in Kabul when she heard there'd been an explosion close to her young son's school.

Why should we have to choose between educating or protecting our children?" asks the 38-year-old mother of two - a former Afghan deputy minister of mines and petroleum. That day, her six-year-old son was sitting safely in class.