Afghanistan

The interest for Afghanistan changed dramatically with 9/11.

Nina Hjelmgren had by then been in Afghanistan numerous times since March 1996 and traveled quite extensively in the country. She was many times been too close to the war and has been guarded by angels. During her travels, Nina has build a network of contacts among the Afghan people, many of whom have become close friends.

After an assignment at the European Union office in Stockholm, Nina Hjelmgren planned to return to Afghanistan during the fall of 2001. “I was working at the EU office when Swedish National Television called and asked me to come and discuss the consequences of the attack against Ahmed Shah Massoud, the Afghan enemy of the talibans. Sitting in the make up-room, someone yelled ‘Turn on CNN!’. We watched how the first airplane flew into the World Trade Center. And then the second. For years, al-Qaeda had in relative tranquility and without disturbance been able to train in Afghanistan, there was no doubt in my mind that what we were watching was a possible creation of theirs. I was furious at the ignorance of the world that had turned a deaf ear with the result that even more innocent civilians were killed”. Only minutes later, Nina Hjelmgren was live on air, commenting on something that would change the world for ever. “Some were upset with me for being so fast in my analysis but I had by then been covering Afghanistan for five years. I wrote my first report on Osama bin Laden and his terror camps in Afghanistan in 1996”.

The educational association NBV contacted Nina Hjelmgren early on and they arranged for her to lecture about Afghanistan all over Sweden. “Numerous journalists were then on their way to Afghanistan. I figured it would be more fruitful if I contributed to better knowledge, understanding and critical thinking to what was happening”.
Nina traveled from Ystad in the south of Sweden to Luleå in the north and lectured in auditoriums, classrooms, libraries, club rooms, culture centers, universities and cinemas.
Nina has also lectured about Afghanistan and her books at the Los Angeles Press Club and SVEA, an organization for Swedish Women living in the USA.
Nina Hjelmgren continues to travel to Afghanistan and keeps herself updated. “Yes, I continue to lecture about Afghanistan, like last summer for the Swedish Army interpreters”.