At first, Zarifullah Darkhily assumed the explosions echoing through the halls of Kabul University were automobile backfire in the streets of Afghanistan’s capital city. In reality, terrorists had breached the building on Nov. 2, 2020.

For the young professor and his contemporaries, it was their darkest day

“I thought of my family and my friends,” said Darkhily, who was head of the institution’s public policy and administration department at the time. “I thought briefly of how I was at this university trying to be useful to my people. But mostly I thought about getting to safety.”

Darkhily survived, but 22 people were killed and dozens were wounded. The day stays with him as he continues to pursue his calling in higher education.

Two years later, Darkhily is serving a two-year appointment as a visiting professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. Placed here through the efforts of the Afghan-U.S. Law Alumni Association and MU faculty, Darkhily imparts daily his knowledge of human rights law and international law to Honors College students and law students.

Read more about Professor Darkhily here: https://showme.missouri.edu/2022/legal-lion/