Afghan youtuber died outside Kabul airport

Joe Biden to terrorists: they will pay with his life 2:10

(CNN) -

Four days after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, youtuber Najma Sadeqi, 20, sat on her bed and recorded one last video for tens of thousands of followers.

Typically, her posts showed her cooking or exploring Kabul with her friends, with bright clothes and upbeat music in the background.

But before Sadeqi began to speak, the dejected expression on his face indicated to the onlookers that it was different.

"Since we are not allowed to work or leave our homes, we have all had to record one last video for them," he began.

"And through this video say goodbye to you."

Women already face discrimination in Afghanistan 3:49

Sadeqi told her audience that she was too scared to go outside, and asked them to pray for her.

"Life in Kabul has become very difficult, especially for those who used to be free and happy," he said.

"Hopefully it's a bad dream, hopefully we can wake up one day," she added, stopping sometimes to hold back tears.

"But I know that it is not possible (...) and it is a reality that we are finished."

Days later, Sadeqi lost his life in a terrorist attack outside Kabul international airport, two of his colleagues told CNN.

At least 170 Afghans died while desperately trying to flee the country.

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Sadeqi was in his final year of studies at a journalism institute in Kabul.

He had recently joined the Afghan Insider YouTube channel, whose videos have amassed more than 24 million views.

They offered a weekly insight into the lives of young content creators, who had grown up amid the relative safety of the post-Taliban era.

They also allowed Sadeqi and others to support their families, while pursuing their own aspirations.

"I was working to earn enough to pay for my daily expenses and my education," Sadeqi said in his latest video.

"Most families in the city now wait for (one) meal a day to survive."

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His death shocked a broad community of young YouTubers who have enjoyed the freedoms granted to Afghans in the two decades since the departure of the previous Taliban regime, many of whom do not even remember the days before 9/11.

And it shed a devastating new light on his latest video, an emotional eight-minute farewell to those who had seen his work.

"Dear friends! We are affected mentally and physically; we have become vulnerable," he said.

Sadeqi used to record videos with her friend Rohina Afshar, but both were forced to record their last messages separately, for fear of leaving their homes.

Even before the airport bombing, many bloggers had gone silent.

Among them Afshar, who confirmed to CNN the death of her friend.

"I was the sole breadwinner for my family, since my father is dead and my brother is not old enough to work," he told CNN.

"With the salary that I received from the YouTube channel I paid all our expenses. Now I am without work, I am too afraid to leave and we do not have any income. I do not know how we can survive this situation."

"Besides the economic difficulties, I am very worried because many people know my face because I used to work for the media," she said.

"I have heard rumors that certain groups identify the girls who work in the media like me to persecute them. I do not feel safe at all."

Afshar, who said her life has "turned upside down" in just a few days, reflects the despair of countless women and girls across Afghanistan.

"In the last ten days or so that I've been home, I've been totally depressed," she said.

"I do not know what to do".

YouTube has become a prominent platform in Afghanistan in recent years, shedding light on the country's nascent democracy and providing a valuable platform for aspiring journalists like Sadeqi and Afshar.

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But Khawja Samiullah Sediqi, who worked at Afghan Insider, now fears for those who produced videos for her channel and others.

"In the last couple of years, dozens of talented young Afghans started working for YouTube channels, not just to earn a living, but to find a platform that would allow them to demonstrate their worth and the progress Afghans had made in the world. last two decades, "he told CNN.

"But in the last couple of weeks everything changed," he said.

"We stop producing new material, we are afraid of being attacked, intimidated or hurt."

One of the channel's reporters was physically assaulted while reporting from Kabul airport, he said.

"We are too afraid to use our right to speak freely and we are totally unsure about the future."

And Sediqi said she is concerned that the plight of young content creators spread across the new media landscape may be overlooked by the global community.

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"I know that many journalists who work for the traditional media have received help and support from their employers and other organizations that protect journalists, but no one has paid attention to us," he said.

"Working for social media platforms like YouTube is somewhat a new phenomenon in Afghanistan, but the nature of our work is the same as any other television channel."

"We became a bridge between the Afghans who live abroad and the poor people who live in the country," a Youtuber from another channel told CNN.

"We are in a difficult situation. They should not abandon us like this."

CNN does not name the youtuber, who like Sadeqi is in her early 20s, for security reasons.

"Yesterday it was Najma's turn. Maybe tomorrow it will be mine, and tomorrow, another girl's," he said.

"Najma had found my number somewhere and texted me (to ask) if I was okay. I still have those text messages ... even so far I can't believe he's gone."

"I feel so hopeless; all my dreams have been smashed. I can't even help my younger siblings, (or) my mother, who can't go to work now," she added about her life under the Taliban regime.

"We are in a difficult situation. They should not abandon us like this."

"Today's Taliban are different from the old ones in that they now have access to smartphones, they have access to the Internet," he said.

"Some of them can probably easily recognize me ... since the day they entered Kabul, I haven't left home at all."

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