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When British student Magsie Hamilton Little witnessed the carnage caused by a suicide bomber in London on 7 July 2005, it had a profound effect on her.

Magsie was studying Islam and Farsi, but felt she had no answers to the questions raised by the bombings.

In a bid to understand what she had seen, she set off on a journey to Afghanistan.

While she was there she became very close to an Afghan family and especially a 17 year-old teenager called Maryam.

When Maryam's fiance Zaki was kidnapped, Magsie risked her life in an attempt to rescue him and met the fearsome Afghan warlord General Dostum.

When Zaki was eventually freed, the reality of life in Afghanistan returned with terrible force.

Magsie and her friend Maryam were caught up in a suicide bomb in Kabul. Magsie escaped unhurt but Maryam, who had taught her so much about Afghanistan, was sadly killed.

Matthew Bannister speaks to Magsie about her extraordinary journey and the effect the experience has had on her.

Dancing with Darkness: Life, Death and Hope in Afghanistan by Magsie Hamilton Little is published by Max Press

First broadcast on 8 March 2011