An Afghan interpreter is trying to get his family out of Afghanistan
As the US government withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, it is also evacuating some of its Afghan interpreters, who aided the US military in their operations. However, there are still thousands of interpreters, support staff and families left behind, and they’re now facing persecution at the hand of the Taliban.
Said Noor is an Afghan interpreter, who immigrated from Afghanistan, and joined the US army, but has not been able to get his family out of Afghanistan yet.
As his family sees the Taliban rapidly seizing Afghan provincial capitals, Noor says they get worried and call him.
“They just want to know about their fate — how they’re going to get out of Afghanistan, or are they going to become the next target for the Taliban? So far, I have not heard any positive feedback from the US government as far as pulling my families out of Afghanistan and bringing them into safe haven in the United States,” he told CNN.
Noor described how extremely difficult it is for any interpreters, support staff and their families to leave Afghanistan.
To get to Kabul. his parents and siblings had to make a lot of excuses and make it through a lot of checkpoints manned by the Taliban.
“[My mother] had to explain that she’s seeking medical treatment in Kabul and that’s how my family were allowed to go,” he said. “If I put myself in the shoes of the other interpreters who do not have any US contract, or local interpreters in Afghanistan, their life is [in] as much danger as my family’s life is. And they have no way to get out of the country.”
Noor also says he is “very surprised” at how quickly the cities have fallen, including Kandahar – the country’s second-biggest city – which is of particular strategic importance and was formerly a major hub for US military operations.
So far, the Taliban swept more than a dozen provincial capitals in Afghanistan.
“I’m very concerned about the situation there. And I’m sure the Taliban, pretty soon, they’re going to make their way into Kabul, and it’s going to be chaos,”
Afghanistan, he fears, will soon see a civil war.
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