- Neha Sharma
- BBC News, Delhi, India
Nausheen’s selfie in the elevator; she remembers being panicked for fear of outdated branches and falling short of success
Refuges, Taliban juvenile outposts, anxiety and panic when waiting for a call from the embassy, the chaos of the airport, and the kind of fear that makes people worry all the time, for fear of the panic of accidental disaster.
This is the story of Nausheen (a pseudonym) who fled in a hurry after the Taliban took control of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
I talked to Nuoxin on the phone, on the afternoon of August 21st, it was Saturday. Not long ago, she was sitting in a small passenger car outside Kabul Airport. There was no food, water, drink, or toilet. She spent 20 hours of panic and despair waiting to board a US military plane that evacuated foreigners. The Indian government is trying to urgently evacuate overseas Chinese from Kabul.
So far, her story has not come to an end. It’s far from over. How did things get to such a situation step by step?
Back to August 15. Nuoxin’s husband is an Afghan. She married to Kabul from India. Both countries have relatives. She had already booked an Air India ticket from Kabul to Delhi on August 19. Unexpectedly, the Taliban took control of Kabul, and all commercial flights were grounded, including the one Nuoxin planned to take.
On the morning of August 15th, Nuoxin got up and found that most foreign embassies and consulates were closed, and the embassy and consulate staff were rushing to evacuate.
Nuoxin’s husband hopes that she will leave Afghanistan as soon as possible. She grabbed her passport and blue cloth burqa, and rushed to the Indian Embassy with her husband to inquire about the evacuation plane.
“We rushed to the Indian embassy with good luck. The office has not stopped there yet, but we can feel the tension in the air. People are destroying documents and burning documents. The embassy staff said that they will work until the evening. I want to give it to me. All relatives in Kabul applied for Indian visas. They asked me to bring my passport and other documents to the embassy in the evening. Then I went home.
“Everyone is panicking、Fleeing in a hurry, because of fear of the Taliban. My husband held my hand and we ran home quickly. It feels like all the people in the city are running to the airport on the street, terrifying. When we got home, the security of the apartment building had changed, from uniform security to men wearing collarless gowns. The apartment building I live in has been surrounded by the Taliban. “
Nuo Xin and her husband took the materials, rushed back to the embassy and obtained visas for the whole family.
Then they waited, waiting for a call from the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Because Nuoxin is an Indian citizen, he is on the priority list of the Indian government’s evacuation plan.
Situation in Afghanistan: BBC reporters report on the evacuation at Kabul Airport
“I was notified by the government on August 19. I need to go to a place (not made public for safety reasons) where many other Indian nationals in the evacuation plan are also gathered there. I have to leave my family behind and I am sad. . But my family is worried about my safety and time is running out. We were told that each person is only allowed to bring a small handbag. So, when I left, I took my laptop, hard drive, mobile phone and charger.”
There are 220 other nationals awaiting evacuation in the shelter, including Indian Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and several Afghans.
But the shelter did not make people feel safe, and people spent two days in anxious mood.
“Without plans and arrangements, we can’t get any information about when we can evacuate. There are no safety facilities or security guards in the shelter. In fact, it is the Taliban who guards the door to prevent other armed groups from attacking us. Everyone feels vulnerable. Help, I’m scared, I can’t sleep all night.”
On August 20, the evacuation order arrived suddenly, and within an hour and a half, 150 diasporas rushed to the airport in 7 cars.
“We were escorted by the Taliban. There was a car in front of the convoy, and a car was behind it. When we arrived at the airport, it was about 12:30 in the middle of the night. A group of people gathered there in ebony, waiting to escape the country. The Taliban fired on one side and the Americans fired tear gas to control the crowd on the other side. We were taken to the north gate of the airport; there was mainly a military passage。”
Kabul site visit: families eager to escape and women whose future is uncertain
At the North Gate, the garrisoned American troops blocked the Indian evacuation convoy from entering, and Nuo Xin and other overseas Chinese had to stay in the car for one night, helpless.
“There were women, children, old, weak, sick and disabled in the car, so they were trapped on the highway. Without a toilet, people who happen to be menstruating have to endure it.WeParked in an open area, the car is really an easy target.”
This is not the worst case.
Taliban sentry photos taken secretly by Nuoxin.She said that some people look like teenagers
“On August 21, at 9:30 in the morning, the Taliban came to our convoy and began to question the evacuation coordinator. They took his phone and slapped him. We don’t know what happened.
Then, we were taken to an industrial area by car and detained there. Many people in the Taliban are very young, and some seem to be only 17 or 18 years old. We were terribly scared and felt that everything was over. Those were the most dangerous hours in my life. We all feel that we will never see family and friends again in this life, and we will never go home again.”
The Taliban took away the passports of the group of expatriates, separated men and women, sat in a park, and began interrogating them one by one. The Indian woman who was married to the Afghan man was taken aside and gathered alone and separated from the others.
“I said I’m an Indian citizen and I want to be with IndiansTogether,They replied that I must stay with the Afghans. I began to be afraid, afraid that they would act as a club to my Indian brothers and sisters. What if you take them somewhere and do something to them?
A Taliban soldier asked me, why do you want to leave here? We are working hard to rebuild the country. He also asked if I would return to Afghanistan. I said, no, we are afraid of you. They comforted us, let us rest assured, there was nothing to be afraid of, and they gave us water to drink, but they never looked at us directly.
Later, they told us that there was a danger and they were protecting our safety. I was separated from other Indian expatriates, but I received a text message from someone over there saying that the Taliban gave them food and took good care of them.”
Later, a Taliban spokesperson issued a statement to the Afghan media, denying the allegations of kidnapping Indian nationals, explaining that these nationals were detained because of suspicion and out of caution, hoping to ensure the safety of everyone.
The Taliban took Nohin and other Indian expatriates from the airport, but denied that it was a kidnapping
A few more hours later, Nuoxin was taken to a car carrying Afghan citizens and Indian citizens married to Afghans. On the way back to the airport, I ran into a car that was taken by other Indian expats. Around 14:00 in the afternoon, the convoy arrived at the north gate of the airport and the detention was over.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India has been trying to get us into the airport, but without success. What makes me very angry is that they have been told that the Taliban have detained us, how helpless we feel, but have not taken any action. We didn’t know what kind of closed-door negotiations had ever happened, but when we were in a difficult situation, I felt hopeless and helpless.
If they are not sure, they shouldn’t let us leave our home. We can hide at home. We don’t have to be in danger. It’s better now, it’s exposed to broad daylight, without any cover.”
The 21st is not over yet. For the rest of the day, things were still changing rapidly. Nuoxin and the others have not yet entered the airport.
At 17:00 in the afternoon, this group of Indian nationals was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India that they would be taken into the airport in 15-20 minutes. This incident did not happen.
At 18:00, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called again to inform them to return to the shelter.
Lack of sleep, hunger, and feeling out of control, Nuoxin was told that the evacuation might begin again in the dead of night. However, they have heard similar information more than once. At this time, they had not slept for three days and three nights.
At 20:00 in the evening, Nuo Xin, exhausted and discouraged, decided to go home.
Later, a group of Indian and Afghan citizens left Kabul on a C-17 of the Indian Air Force. Nuoxin missed this opportunity.
“I was told that everything happened extremely fast. The people were taken back to the airport immediately after returning to the shelter. They didn’t have time to notify me, so I missed it. They are all at the airport now. I don’t want to criticize myself for leaving the shelter. We are really exhausted. .”
The next day, on August 22, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Nohin twice, and her name was included in a new list of evacuees. The next day, at 2:30 am on the 23rd, she received a notice to gather at a place before 5:30.
At 08:00 in the morning, two 21-seater passenger cars arrived at the main entrance of Hamid Karzai International Airport, each with up to 80 passengers. After getting off the car, I found that the situation was as bad as before.
“Many people are still fighting, trying their luck. We saw the Taliban swinging their whips and shooting people into the air. We were told to close the window and draw the curtains. The scene is terrifying. There are Taliban guards at the front entrance of the airport, as well as in the airport. Continue to get closer, and then you will see the American soldiers in the airport. They are beckoning to us. Several Indian officials came to check our passports.”
It was already 11:20 in the morning. Nuoxin and his fellow expats sat on the tarmac waiting while an Indian plane waited for the Americans to issue landing permits.
An hour later, Nuoxin found himself on a military plane and flew to Tajikistan. Her cell phone shut down soon.
At 09:40 am local time on August 24, Nuo Xin arrived at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport. The tribulation that lasted for 9 days ended.
Soon after she landed, I called her and said “welcome home” to her.
She collapsed when she heard the sound and couldn’t hold it anymore.
“I still feel like having a nightmare. Now, I am here myself, but my husband and family are still in Afghanistan. It is only now that I begin to realize how terrible the experience of the past few days is. When I was in Kabul, I didn’t have time to think about what was happening, but when the plane landed at Dushanbe (Tajikistan) airport, I started to remember. I’m numb. Now I only wish that my husband and her relatives and friends can leave soon. Before that, I didn’t feel at home and couldn’t feel at ease.”