Afghan students graduate in Iraq after Taliban takeover

Shakila Mohammadi and Esmatullah Sahak walk at the campus of the American University in Sulaimaniya, while both of them left Afghanistan to finish their studies, Sulaimaniya, Iraq, June 14, 2022. Picture taken June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Mohammed Jalal

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - A week before she left Afghanistan in October 2021, Shakila Mohammadi visited her hometown on a short break from university.

"At that time I did not know that this was the last time I could visit my favorite place," the 22-year-old law student said from Sulaimaniya, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, where she has been living since.