It can be easy to turn a blind eye to shocking events on the other side of the world, but Afghan refugee Hakimeh Rahimi, is reliving a nightmare as she watches the Taliban wreak havoc throughout her homeland.
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She witnessed the carnage before as a child in Malistan, south west of the country's capital Kabul, before her family fled to Iran as refugees in 1995 and later to Australia in 2014.
"It was always being attacked by the Taliban and we were always in danger," Mrs Rahimi said.
"When the Taliban came, then we left."
Mrs Ramihi fears for her relations trapped in Afghanistan.
Her last contact was with her uncle Khan Ali Herat who painted a grim picture of the events taking place.
"I spoke to him last week and we don't know whether the others are dead or alive," Mrs Rahimi said.
"He was worried and anxious because the Taliban have taken control of Malistan, closing schools and damaging telephone and internet connections so no one can talk.
"He said girls aged over 15, widowed and divorced women were being forced to marry Taliban soldiers."
Mrs Rahimi, who now lives in Wagga Wagga in NSW's Riverina, said she belonged to a group called Hazara, who are Shia muslims.
"That's our ancestry and as Harazi we speak Dari and the Taliban want everyone to speak Pashto - if they find anyone speaking Dari they kill them," she said.
"What kind of Islamic country is it that the Taliban are killing other muslims?"
Mrs Rahimi's cousin Mohammed Sadaqet fled to Kabul and contacted her two weeks ago after his house was destroyed and his neighbours killed.
"He just took his wife and kids and ran out of the house - now they have nothing," she said.
"He said if he filmed it and sent it to me that I wouldn't sleep - there's no food - no accommodation - people are just trying to stay alive."
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Mrs Rahimi blames the country's president Ashraf Ghani who has fled Afghanistan, for The Taliban's speedy takeover.
"He opened the way for the Taliban and clearly gave them a pathway to do what they are doing now," she said.
Mrs Rahimi believes the only solution to prevent thousands more being slaughtered in the coming weeks is for governments around the world to unite to eradicate the Taliban
"We appreciate the human rights we have in Australia; we live in a peaceful house, but I can hardly sleep at night for hearing the sound of bombing and shooting in my mind.
"Everyone has to take a step to raise their voice and stop what's going on there."
