Image source,Safi Rauf/Human First Coalition
Aman Khalili (third from right) and his family
An interpreter and his family who helped rescue the then U.S. senator Biden from the harsh rural areas of Afghanistan and his family safely evacuated the country.
In 2008, a blizzard caused a military helicopter carrying Biden and other U.S. congressmen to land in a snow-covered valley, facing the danger of being ambushed.
Aman Khalili, who was one of the Afghan employees of the US government at the time, drove the group of people to safety.
Since August last year, he has been seeking help to overcome visa problems and leave Afghanistan.
He has now joined the thousands of Afghans who have fled their homeland, who do not want to live under the rule of the Taliban.
On Monday (October 11), a representative of the U.S. State Department told the BBC that Khalili and his family had “safely left Afghanistan, and then began to move on from Pakistan.”
“With the extensive participation and support of the senior U.S. government, they did it. We are very grateful to the many others who supported him along the way.”
After 13 years of chance encounters with Biden, Senators Chuck Hagel and John Kerry, Harry tried to obtain a special immigrant visa (SIV) in the United States to escape Afghanistan.
The Afghan War: Four U.S. Presidents in Twenty Years
After the United States withdrew in chaos this summer, Harry called on Biden to save him, his wife and five children. “I trust him,” he told CNN. “I believe he can do everything.”
When asked about Khalili in September, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki thanked him for “helping some of my favorite people get rid of the blizzard and all the work she did” and said that the United States was “committed to “Yu” withdrew from allies.
The Human First Coalition is helping to rescue more than 200 Afghans in Pakistan. The organization told the BBC that they are “very grateful” to US and Pakistani officials for “helping us bring President Biden’s interpreter and his family to safety.”
SIV was specifically designed for Afghans and Iraqis who fought side by side with the U.S. military in two wars. At present, it is unclear whether Harry obtained this visa or whether he is traveling to the United States.
Since 2008, approximately 70,000 Afghans have settled in the United States through SIV.