BENNINGTON — The choice was painfully simple — leave on the plane heading for freedom with your wife and youngest child or risk nearly certain capture by the Taliban by trying to get to your two teenage sons, missing in the chaos outside the airport doors.
That was the choice facing Mohammed and his wife, refugees who had recently settled in Bennington County. They have asked the Banner not to reveal their last names out of fear for their two teenage sons, hiding somewhere in Afghanistan under Taliban rule until the day comes when they can all be reunited as a family.
“We were told to leave the embassy without our weapons and wait for a phone call,” said Mohammed through an interpreter on Saturday.
Mohammed worked as an armed security guard for a private contractor at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, for 10 years, up until the day he was told to go home and wait for that phone call that would allow safe passage out of Afghanistan for him and his family.
“We were issued a small badge identifying us as workers at the U.S. Embassy,” Mohammed said. “We were told to show up at the airport, and we would be allowed inside to board a flight out.”
While Mohammed and his family waited, chaos ensued as thousands of Afghan citizens attempted to enter the airport to board one of the few remaining flights out of the country.
“No one knew the Taliban had come,” as well, Mohammed said.
Taliban soldiers roamed outside the airport walls, watching and searching for anyone holding a golden ticket — that American Embassy pass. It allowed families inside the airport with a safe exit out of a war that was changing by the minute after the United States quickly withdrew its military presence from the country.
“I was told to come back and pick up a yellow pass that would get us out, promised us, but first, we had to go back home and wait again for another call.”
Mohammed finally received that second call. The family raced to the airport, but when they got there, no one was at the door to meet them or check their passes. Mohammed and his family joined an ever-growing mass of people trying to get inside.
Shots rang out, and confusion and fear swept the growing crowd. There were explosions. Some of the Taliban tried to enter. At some point, the doors to the airport opened, and Mohammed and his family made their way into the airport, except, when they got inside, past the massive push of the crowds, the two boys, 14 and 15, were nowhere in sight.
They couldn’t find them in the swirling mass of desperation outside the doors. They pleaded with the American military personnel to allow them to leave the airport and search for their sons but were told that if they went back out, they most likely would never make it back in.
“We stayed three days and nights at the airport without food,” Mohammed said. “We knew they were somewhere outside without any food, as well, and the Taliban outside with them, in the crowd, shooting. The Taliban knew who had those passes, and if we left, we might be killed. It was a heartbreaking wait.”
At some point, they decided to go out to find the boys, but the military refused them safe passage back because of the escalating situation outside.
“That was the hardest decision,” Mohammed said. “I told them I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go to America without my two sons. I was told, because the Taliban saw the badge, that I would be targeted as soon as I got outside, and that I couldn’t leave, so we just waited.” At some point, they decided to go out to find the boys, but the military refused them safe passage back because of the escalating situation outside.
“That was the hardest decision,” Mohammed said. “I told them I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to go to America without my two sons. I was told, because the Taliban saw the badge, that I would be targeted as soon as I got outside, and that I couldn’t leave, so we just waited.”
The boys eventually contacted their uncle, who directed them to a safe passage from the airport to his home. A phone call between the parents and the boys confirmed their safety. After several calls between other family members and after talking with the boys and reassuring them they would be safe, it was decided that the wisest choice would be to get on the plane and try to arrange safe passage for the boys after the airport situation calmed. Meanwhile, the boys awaited a way out at their uncle’s house.
“I couldn’t make that decision to leave,” Zakia, Mohammed’s wife, said. “I have to go back. My heart was breaking. I knew I had this decision. I had to think of my husband. I didn’t want him to die if he left.”
Mohammed, Zakia and their youngest son flew first to Dubai, then a camp for refugees in Wisconsin for five months, before landing in Vermont as part of a refugee resettlement program.
Both Mohammed and Zakia say there hasn’t been a moment that they haven’t thought about the decision they made and about the two teenage boys they left behind.
“The Taliban is all through Kabul now,” Mohammed said. “If it weren’t for that fact, it would have been easier to know they were safe with family, but we can’t ever go back to get them. Our bodies are here in Vermont, but our hearts are still back there.”
The boys stayed with their uncle for a few months, but he passed away, so they live now with other family members. They stay inside all the time in fear of the Taliban discovering who they are and the work their father did for the Americans.
“I can’t say exactly if they are safe,” Zakia said. “They are all the time inside, more than a year, no school, no friends and no contact with anyone outside the house. ... We are alive, but we are not alive. We die a little every day we are not with them. The Taliban doesn’t kill one time. They kill every time. They know we are in America. Our sons will be in danger until they can leave. It is hard to have hope, but we trust in God.”
For Mohammed, the Taliban carries much blame for his family’s separation, but he feels strongly that he was promised safe passage for his whole family by the Americans, and that was not what happened.
“I worked with the U.S. Embassy for many years,” Mohammed said, “and we showed that yellow pass, which guaranteed I can get my family out safely. That was the job of the military, after all the help we worked so hard to give. My sons were outside. We could have found a way to get them with the military’s help. I served 10 years. Someone should have helped get those boys.”
As of today, their teenage sons are still in hiding, and there has not been any definitive word on when and how they can get the boys out. Their parents fear what will happen to them if they step outside after witnessing so much violence. The family has been in contact with several organizations that have been evacuating Afghans, and both parents are in contact with Brian Dalton of Bennington County Open Arms, a refugee resettlement program, and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office, who in turn is working with a federal program. Leahy’s retirement placed the case in the hands of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, but no one knows how it all will unfold.
“We receive calls from the State Department, from private companies working with the Afghans, telling us to get ready, that this will happen, but nothing has happened so far,” Mohammed said.
A big smile flashed across Zakia’s face when asked about what it’ll be like seeing her boys for the first time since the evacuation.
“I will kiss their faces and thank God they are safe,” Zakia said, as her smile faded into the reality of the present moment. “I believe in God. They will come here one day. I eat my lunch, my supper every day, and wonder if they have eaten, what they have, and I cry. I hope to see them soon. I am alive, but I am dead until then.”
The boys eventually contacted their uncle, who directed them to a safe passage from the airport to his home. A phone call between the parents and the boys confirmed their safety. After several calls between other family members and after talking with the boys and reassuring them they would be safe, it was decided that the wisest choice would be to get on the plane and try to arrange safe passage for the boys after the airport situation calmed. Meanwhile, the boys awaited a way out at their uncle’s house.
“I couldn’t make that decision to leave,” Zakia, Mohammed’s wife, said. “I have to go back. My heart was breaking. I knew I had this decision. I had to think of my husband. I didn’t want him to die if he left.”
Mohammed, Zakia and their youngest son flew first to Dubai, then a camp for refugees in Wisconsin for five months, before landing in Vermont as part of a refugee resettlement program.
Both Mohammed and Zakia say there hasn’t been a moment that they haven’t thought about the decision they made and about the two teenage boys they left behind.
“The Taliban is all through Kabul now,” Mohammed said. “If it weren’t for that fact, it would have been easier to know they were safe with family, but we can’t ever go back to get them. Our bodies are here in Vermont, but our hearts are still back there.”
The boys stayed with their uncle for a few months, but he passed away, so they live now with other family members. They stay inside all the time in fear of the Taliban discovering who they are and the work their father did for the Americans.
“I can’t say exactly if they are safe,” Zakia said. “They are all the time inside, more than a year, no school, no friends and no contact with anyone outside the house. ... We are alive, but we are not alive. We die a little every day we are not with them. The Taliban doesn’t kill one time. They kill every time. They know we are in America. Our sons will be in danger until they can leave. It is hard to have hope, but we trust in God.”
For Mohammed, the Taliban carries much blame for his family’s separation, but he feels strongly that he was promised safe passage for his whole family by the Americans, and that was not what happened.
“I worked with the U.S. Embassy for many years,” Mohammed said, “and we showed that yellow pass, which guaranteed I can get my family out safely. That was the job of the military, after all the help we worked so hard to give. My sons were outside. We could have found a way to get them with the military’s help. I served 10 years. Someone should have helped get those boys.”
As of today, their teenage sons are still in hiding, and there has not been any definitive word on when and how they can get the boys out. Their parents fear what will happen to them if they step outside after witnessing so much violence. The family has been in contact with several organizations that have been evacuating Afghans, and both parents are in contact with Brian Dalton of Bennington County Open Arms, a refugee resettlement program, and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office, who in turn is working with a federal program. Leahy’s retirement placed the case in the hands of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, but no one knows how it all will unfold.
“We receive calls from the State Department, from private companies working with the Afghans, telling us to get ready, that this will happen, but nothing has happened so far,” Mohammed said.
A big smile flashed across Zakia’s face when asked about what it’ll be like seeing her boys for the first time since the evacuation.
“I will kiss their faces and thank God they are safe,” Zakia said, as her smile faded into the reality of the present moment. “I believe in God. They will come here one day. I eat my lunch, my supper every day, and wonder if they have eaten, what they have, and I cry. I hope to see them soon. I am alive, but I am dead until then.”