Taliban massacre survivor describes watching as gunmen slaughtered bus passengers because women had been allowed on board... and how she managed to cheat death

It was a journey 17-year-old River had done countless times.But one morning in 2014, what was meant to be a bus ride to school turned into a hellish nightmare when the vehicle was stopped by Taliban gunmen. Within moments, the group of masked men began shooting at passengers as the teenager watched helplessly. As lifeless bodies dropped to the floor in front of her, River made a split-second decision that would save her life.In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, River, now in her 30s, has recalled the horror of the day she came face to face with the Taliban - and how, at just 17, she was forced to fight for her life simply for trying to get an education. River, formerly known as Zakia, had left her village in the Ghazni province that morning to make the two-hour journey to Kabul, a trip she made every day because it was the only way she could attend school.For as long as she could remember, she dreamed of becoming a journalist and wanted to write about women's rights issues. But in 2014, as the Taliban gained momentum in Afghanistan, even the simple act of travelling to school was becoming increasingly dangerous for girls like River. River (pictured) survived a horrific attack by the Taliban in 2014. Years later, she fled Afghanistan and moved to Australia File image: Armed Taliban take part in a parade to mark in Kanadahar, Afghanistan She says the Taliban stopped her bus that day and unleashed their deadly rampage because there were women on board.'They didn't want women travelling or studying without a male relative,' she recalls.As the gunmen opened fire and shots rang out, River watched as people died in front of her. 'The only thought I had was, 'I don't want to die — how do I save my life?'', she says.What followed was a quick decision that spared her from death. The teenager, who was on her period, smeared her own menstrual blood all over her face and lay motionless on the floor. 'I knew that the Taliban considered women 'unclean' and wouldn't touch a woman's body, believing they were already dead if they saw blood,' she explains. 'So I made a very quick decision — I used some of my own blood, put it on my face, and lay back in my seat, pretending to be dead. I controlled my breathing and didn't move,' River says. 'It felt like the longest time of my life. Eventually they came and checked, saw the blood, assumed I was dead, and left. I don't know exactly how long I stayed like that afterwards, not opening my eyes.'Members of the military eventually found River hiding among dead bodies. Twelve people died aboard the bus, and River was one of three survivors.But her encounters with the Taliban did not stop there. As the terror group grew increasingly more powerful, they instilled fear in everyday life. 'Whenever we travelled between districts, they would stop cars and harass people,' she says. 'I don't think it's fair to even call them human beings; they were so aggressive and dangerous to women.'Shortly after the bus attack, River and her family moved to Kabul, believing they would be safer there.River would go on to become the first Afghan woman to climb Everest (pictured in May 2026 during her expedition in Nepal) A young River is pictured with her mother in Afghanistan She began working as a journalist, covering the lives and experiences of women in Afghanistan.But the work soon brought its own dangers.River began receiving threats and was once stopped in the street and warned to stop.Eventually, she and her family decided to flee Afghanistan. They first moved to India, where they lived as refugees before eventually settling in Australia.But escaping Afghanistan did not mean the end of their struggles.In India, the family had no right to work, making it difficult to build a new life. Six months after arriving in Australia, River's 20-year-old brother died by suicide.'When you leave your country under those circumstances, there's a lot of depression,' she says.'I lost my brother in Australia, and it was a very tough time for me to find my footing again, to feel happy, to feel like living.'At her lowest point, River turned to alcohol.'I drank a lot...[Drinking] was the only thing that kept me going at that time.'And even thousands of miles from Afghanistan, the memories of the bus attack continued to haunt her.River suffered nightmares about the attack and says she would dream about men in masks following her.Yet, despite everything she had survived, she continued to push herself into places she had once never imagined reaching.As a child, River would always go climbing with her brothers in the snow-capped mountains that surrounded her village in Afghanistan. She had once even considered climbing professionally, but the presence of the Taliban quickly shattered those dreams. The Taliban in Afghanistan have gone on to rule every aspect of life, and have imposed massive restrictions on women's rights. Pictured: A member of the Taliban pictured in Kabul, August 2016 File image: aliban security personnel stand guard as an Afghan burqa-clad woman (R) walks along a street at a marketHowever, in Australia, River began pursuing a career as a climber and earlier this year made headlines around the world after becoming the first Afghan woman to climb Mount Everest.For River, reaching the summit was more than just a sporting achievement. 'Where I come from, in Afghanistan, someone is always telling you what to do — deciding for you what you should eat, what you should wear,' she says.'I wasn't very confident about doing big things in my life.''So when I got to the top of Everest... I felt so strong, so confident. I felt like humans are limitless — no one can put a person in a box and say, "You can only do this" or "You can't do that." That was an amazing feeling. It's hard to describe.'But even on Everest, the past found a way of catching up with her. While climbing in the Khumbu region, River says she was haunted by the image of the men who had once tried to kill her.She says at night, climbers' faces were covered to protect them from the cold. But to River, their masked faces brought back memories of the Taliban.'I got scared and started crying,' she recalls.'I kept telling myself: this mountain is safe, there's no Taliban here, you're safe, you have to focus and use your ability.'But she says Everest became an unexpected place to confront a fear she had carried since she was 17.'That helped me let go of some of that fear — carrying that memory all the way to Everest, and finally being able to process it there.'