thanks for watching, goodnight! tonight, the women of afghanistan now living in fear. >> we are just panicking. we are -- we don't know anything. >> will taliban control mean a return to owe pediatrician and terror? ? >> we haven't seen one woman out on the streets. >> will this mark the end of 20 years of progress for afghan women? >> we have problems living there, but taliban, who are against human rights, women's rights, and don't respect personal choice. >> this special edition of "nightline," "afghanistan falls," will be right back. (vo) for over 50 years purina cat chow has been helping cats feel at home. with trusted nutrition,

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♪ thanks for joining us. tonight, millions of women and girls in afghanistan are now in hiding, living in fear. and while the taliban today vowed to respect women's rights, many are unconvinced. these women are afraid of what the new fundamentalist regime means for their education, their careers, their very lives. now at greater risk. >> we are just panicking.

we don't know anything. i mean, what is next? >> reporter: fatima is one of millions of fwhim afghanistan now living in the shadows. >> do you fear for your life? >> it's so complicated for you. i am afraid we are going back to 20 years ago. i was talking with girls and they were afraid. >> reporter: shuttered in their homes, worried that their fultz will be a return to the repressive past. >> today when i was out, full hijab. >> reporter: this is the afghanistan she knows well. vibrant, colorful, bold. empowered women breaking norms and stereotypes. >> i always said that i want to show afghan women beauty. i want to go behind the burqa. to show the unseen afghan women that never see, never think about it. >> reporter: the 28-year-old photographer and women's rights advocate has spent years capturing the elusive beauty of of a fan women, hoping to show

them in a more positive and strong light. but at stunning speed her future was thrown into uncertainty. showing your face right now is an act of courage, and speaking out for women's rights is an act of courage. >> there are so many more brave women, it's not only me. they grew up here. fought for so many things. they fought for what we are today, you know? so how we can go, how we can accept to go back, how we can talk, how we can ignore women's rights, because as you see today, i could see that so many men were outside, but so few women. >> reporter: in its first press conference today, the taliban vowed to respect women's rights. and urged women to join its government, claiming they will also be able to work and that girls can continue their education. but making it clear the rights of afghan women will follow strict sharia law. >> women will be afforded all the rights, whether it is in

work or other activities, because women are a key part of society. and we are guaranteeing all their rights within the limits of islam. >> reporter: afghan women, journalists and educators takin unwelcoming for anyone not a man. the taliban commander has said he's committed to women's rights under sharia law. do you have faith in that statement? >> i cannot say anything at the moment given the dark experience of afghan people, regime. we saw so many other thing that is they didn't have the commitment. when i have conversation with afghan girls in kabul, they want to wear everything they wanted, you know? they want to go to cafes, them to go to have a coffee. i mean, to talk about freedom. but i am not sure.

we have never been thinking about kabul fell this much quick. >> reporter: half a world away from kabul in the quiet, serene peace of lincoln, nebraska, nasreen nawa grapples with the nightmarish reality back home. >> i very quickly took my phone, and i read messages that someone wrote me, kabul is fallen. i'm not exaggerating, it was the worst time in my life. i cannot believe it. even i still cannot believe it. >> reporter: a journalist studying in the u.s. on a fulbright scholarship, nasreen left afghanistan friday, mere days before the government crumbled under the weight of taliban pressure. >> i really want to be there. we invested there. we planned to make a life. we have problems living there, but taliban, who are against human rights, women's rights, and who don't respect personal choice, very simple thing, it's

the preliminary rights of a person. you won't have this with taliban. >> reporter: but for so many other afghans like nasreen's family, including her sister, still in afghanistan, unable to escape. >> she told me that maybe she find a way, but she cannot take my parents with her. and it really hurts. because they will be left behind without any children, without anything, under a regime that they don't believe in. >> reporter: tonight as many as 11,000 american citizens and tens of thousands of afghans are desperately trying to get out of kabul. 4,000 u.s. troops securing the airport there. the taliban claiming they are in total control of the city, setting up checkpoints, separating foreigners from locals. my colleague ian pannell is there. >> there are pedestrians, there are cars, people are bikes. the taliban are out in force. you see them at different

checkpoints around the city. but we've gone driving for five minutes, and what's really noticeable is we haven't seen one woman out on the streets. >> reporter: the taliban adapting with modern times. smarter and more media savvy. utilizing social media platforms like twitter to spread their message. the pvious taliban rule of afghanistan both brutal and oppressive, women had few rights. violence was rampant. >> executions, taliban going door to door, no music, no connection to the outside world. are they different? maybe. right? we'll see. but the country is definitely different. >> reporter: in 1996, my colleague, diane sawyer, traveled to afghanistan to see for herself. the first time the taliban rolled back progress in the region, forcing women back into the middle ages. >> so as we come in to land, it's time to get dressed. we were told by the consulate to make sure that whatever else, women have to have their wrists and their ankles covered before stepping off the plane.

and we're not sure how much of the face and head have to be covered. i'll start out like this. and we'll see how far we get. >> reporter: the city a shattered ruin. a rare woman could be seen scurrying through the streets shrouded in a burqa. where a month before diane's arrival, women of kabul had had half the government jobs, were 40% of the physicians, 70% of the teachers. on the ground our team spoke with a taliban mullah, the deputy foreign minister mohammad stalyksty. >> where in the koran does it say women can't work? >> it's not that you say that women cannot work. women can work. and we know the importance of a woman in a society, we realize that. >> does she have to be covered? >> in islamic dress, of course.

but one thing -- >> but how can a doctor -- i'm not sure -- have you ever seen what it's like inside looking out? have you seen that? >> no. >> reporter: with the american invasion, the taliban was pushed out and women's freedoms were restored. but now many fear history will repeat itself. >> so many of the scholareds, including yourself, say the taliban have matured, this is a different taliban 2.0. how do you think they have evolved? >> 1996, the rules said no women in the streets without a chaperone, no women wearing anything but a burqa, no high heels. we're going to see the competition that was always taking place in afghanistan between the forces of modernity and the forces that were pushing the country back toward its past colliding. girls are going to be right in the middle of it. >> reporter: experts say with what the taliban ultimately wants is power and to rule their own islamic state, a return to the way things were when they

last ruled. but it's up to the world to hold them accountable. >> the international community has a choice. it either washes its hands of the country, or it says, taliban, you want recognition? you want to come to u.n. plaza? you want to not be an international pariah? we will hold you accountable. >> reporter: afghan report er nazira karimi fled in 1994, before that takeover. >> this is my beloved country no matter what situation. still, i keep my commitment. >> reporter: her emotional questioning during a pentagon briefing striking a chord. >> i'm very upset today. because afghan women didn't expect that overnight all the taliban came. they took off my flag. this is my flag. afghan people, they don't know what to do. women have a lot of achievement in afghanistan, i had a lot of achievement. >> let me say, with all respect, that i understand. and we all understand the

anxiety and the fear and the pain that you're feeling. it's clear and it's evident. >> as long as i'm alive, i keep my commitment to fight because of humans' rights including women, men, kids, old, young, everybody. if the taliba continue their old policy, believe me, there is no future in afghanistan. >> reporter: but she clings to a belief in resilience, and in the women caught between two worlds. >> afghan women never lose their hope. they never give up. they are fighting. as long as they are alive. >> reporter: a fight forged by a lifetime of hope. the audacity to dream. for nazira, for nazreen, for th fatima. for afghan women the fight has just begun. >> we're talking about a human need. we need to have more educated

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shouldn't we choose ability this time? we must have a competent governor with management experience and outsider integrity. [sfx: bear roar]atesnl. ♪ welcome back. earlier i spoke to former u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker, and david milliban, former british cabinet minister, now ceo of the international rescue committee. thank you both for joining me. >> good to be with you.

>> happy to be here. >> ambassador crocker, let me bgin with you. as ambassador to afghanistan during the bush and obama administrations, you've been wary of a complete withdrawal for years. now that it's happened, what's your biggest concern from a national security standpoint, that the u.s. embassy is closed and the taliban is back in control? >> i have several deep concerns. the most significant, i think, is we have helped recreate the alliance from hell between the taliban and al qaeda that produced 9/11. they're back now. taliban is back, al qaeda will be back with them. and our ability to detect or affect what they do is now limited. >> we went to afghanistan to defeat al qaeda. are you concerned that this regrouping will repower and resurface the force there? >> clearly it's a huge victory

for the taliban and al qaeda behind them. narrative now from the taliban is, the righteous clad in the armor of the true faith has vanquished the infed dells. that's the other concern i have. our actions now have given a huge shot in the arm to islamic radicals everywhere. not least next door in pakistan. so this is a gift that's going to keep on giving to our adversaries. >> mr. milliban, let me turn to you. at their first press conference, a taliban spokesperson claimed no violence or prejudice against women will be allowed and that women will have the rights accorded to them by sharia law. what does that actually mean for the women of modern-day afghanistan, and what are you hearing on the ground about the impact the taliban are already having on the rights of women and girls? >> the international rescue committee has 1,700 staff on the ground in nine provinces in afghanistan. and it's obviously their views and their fears that i'm channeling today.

there are three humanitarian crises already in the country. nearly 20 million people are dependant on humanitarian aid to survive. there's about 500,000 people, the majority of them women and girls, who have been displaced by fighting. and then there are tens of thousands of people who have been promised at various stages of the last 20 years that there would be a safe haven for them in the united states or in europe. and they're now wondering whether or not that's going to come good. and the women and girls who we've seen grow into staffmembers over the last 20 years are all worried that the movie they saw in the 1990s is going to be seen again. >> it's indeed a dark history. ambassador crocker, the taliban has pledged safe passage of civilians, american civilians and westerners, to the airport and to not retaliate against those who worked with the u.s. and nato. if you were advising the administration, what's the best way to ensure that that pledge is kept? >> to be prepared to deliver a

very harsh response should any incident transpire. we are there in adequate force, obviously. ironically, more troops now in afghanistan by a long shot than those that president biden pledged to take out. i think that would make such a warning credible. i'm less concerned about an effort to interdict the passage and evacuation of foreign nationals than i am about the individuals, interpreters who have helped us and to whom we made a pledge of safety. we will see how that goes. when they try to get to kabul airport. >> there are those who believe the u.s. has broken promises to those who risked their lives to help u.s. troops and u.s. interests in the region. >> we clearly have. let's be blunt about it. our processes are already dysfunctional. roughly three years to get through the entire special

immigrant visa brothers. during which period we were losing interpreters to taliban executioners. to say the very least, we have not delivered on what we pledged to do for those who assisted us. >> mr. milliban, speaking of visas, tell me about president biden's expansion of the refugee program to allow more afghans to enter the u.s. does it go far enough? is the irc already resettling afghan families elsewhere? >> yes, the international rescue committee is the largest refugee resettlement agency across the u.s. with 25 offices. we are resettling special visa hoders. as the ambassador says, it's a torturous process to get through the vetting. the president biden has expanded the number which is good, creating what's called a priority 2 program for people in a wider group beyond those who directly worked with american forces or diplomats. we would argue that the numbers

need to go significantly higher to fulfill the debt of honor that's owed, that the bureaucracy needs to be stripped right back, because there's a grave danger that people who are in danger are going to be stuck filling in forms rather than getting to safety. >> dire warning. ambassador crocker, you were at the american embassy, and you saw when it reopened in 2002. what was it like for you to see us leave, take the flag down, and watch our chaotic withdrawal from afar? >> it has been very, very hard. i remind myself that the sadness i feel over where we have brought ourselves is simply insignificant compared to the danger that we have put so many afghans in who trusted us. i'm sure it's the same for david. i am getting dozens and dozens of pleas for help from folks in kabul who want to get out and don't know how to do it.

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♪ you can be sure abc news will have continuing coverage of the crisis unfolding in afghanistan in the coming days. that's it for us this evening. you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. we'll see you right back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.