An Afghan boy who won the hearts of football fans across the world after wearing a homemade Lionel Messi shirt has been forced to leave his home by the Taliban.
Murtaza Ahmadi, seven, was smuggled out of Ghazni by his mum Shafiqa after the terrorist group came looking for him.
She said she put a scarf around his face to hide his identity as the family made their way to Kabul after hearing gunfire near their home last month.
Shafiqa said: ‘Local strongmen were calling and saying, ‘You have become rich, pay the money you have received from Messi or we will take your son’.
‘At night we would sometimes see unknown men, watching and checking our house, and then the calls. Read more