Just one month ago, Joe Biden assured Americans that it was “highly unlikely” that the Taliban would seize Kabul after US troops withdrew. But this week, the world has watched in shock at scenes of the Taliban capturing province after province across Afghanistan. On Sunday, President Ashraf Ghani abruptly fled the capital and headed for Tajikistan, shortly before insurgents entered the presidential palace — signaling their intention to declare an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

With the collapse of the US-backed regime, banks, airports, and vehicles are full of people desperately trying to flee the country. They hope to join the millions of Afghan refugees who have already been forced to leave over the past four decades of conflict. The number of internally displaced people is also surging, as people all over Afghanistan stand to lose their family members, homes, schools, and workplaces to both Taliban fighters and American bombs.

Last week, Zar Begum, a middle-aged woman at an encampment in Kabul, described why she fled: