It takes a rather extraordinary act of violence in Afghanistan for the news to break through to American audiences that have long moved on. The attack on the American University of Afghanistan last August, however, was one such act.
Since its establishment in 2006, AUAF had turned into the beating heart of the young society in Kabul. Though it boasts few American students, it serves as a symbol for those who want to see a closer relationship between the United States and Afghanistan. As much as anything else, it was likely this symbolism that made it such an alluring target to attackers.
Behind the metaphors, however, are real students and staff. Just two weeks before the attack, two of its instructors were kidnapped by the Pakistani-based Haqani Network and remain its hostages.
Last summer, at least 13 people were killed and 44 injured when attackers blew their way past security guards and went on an hours-long rampage. With the school finally reopening, students are trying to come back. One of those is Breshna, a law student who was already coping with the effects of childhood polio in her right leg when terrorists shot her three times in her left leg. Khazar Fatemi filed the dispatch above for The Huffington Post.