Family of 5 hiding from Taliban pleads for help getting out of Afghanistan

A family of five is in hiding from the Taliban in Afghanistan. Fearing their education makes them a Taliban target, they are pleading for help from American volunteers.

"It's like a living hell for us now," Zahra, 20, told ABC News on a phone call while hiding out in western Afghanistan, in a country she hardly even knows.

"When I think about all the things that I'm missing out on -- because of these people -- I feel like crying," she said, seeming to be fighting back tears.

While Zahra (ABC News has changed her name and her sister's to protect them and their family) was born in Afghanistan, she has lived in India since she was 8 and is currently studying petrochemical engineering at a university based in Gujarat.

She visited her family in Afghanistan in late May as COVID-19 worsened in India after her father suggested she and her younger sister, Amina, travel home for the summer, where they all thought it would be safer. The sisters were excited to see their family, having only gone back to their home country a handful of times since they moved to India in 2007 for their education.