A permanent resident of the United States and previous combat interpreter who worked with the U.S. military in Afghanistan says he and his family are stuck in Afghanistan. Now that the country is ruled by Taliban, he doesn’t think he can safely leave Afghanistan.
The man, who is resided in Arizona, told Fox News that he is currently in hiding in Afghanistan because the Biden administration did not have a “clear evacuation plan.” The man also said that he is not alone in being an American resident abandoned in Afghanistan.
“There are a lot of people still left behind. My friends, I know them, they are stuck here. Four of them are American citizens. Two from Arizona and two from California,” the man said.
The man, who is just distinguished by his first name “Zekria” for his protection, bashed the Biden administration for its sloppy withdrawal plan.
“The Biden administration left without any plan, and that is why there are thousands of allies who worked for the U.S. military, American citizens, Afghan Americans, all stuck here,” he stated.
He also said that the Afghans who got away from the country were possibly “beggars displaced from other provinces,” and probably “not qualified” members of the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa program.
“There are a lot of people like me,” Zekria said. “We are the ones who are qualified. We put ourselves and our families in danger, and they took people that don’t even have documents.”
“It was impossible to get into the airport,” he said, adding that his brother “got beaten by the Taliban” when trying to get to the Kabul airport. He said the Taliban were charging $600 to get past checkpoints by the Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Zekria served as an officer in the Afghan Army, then worked with the U.S. military from 2011 to 2015 as a linguist combat interpreter. He reportedly was given a green card and legal residence in the U.S. for his service. He gave Fox News documents supporting his allegations and many emails he sent to the State Department and U.S. embassies.
He tried to leave Afghanistan in July, but was supposedly given no aid from the State Department, who told him “only help citizens – not green card holders” were being guided out of the country. He alleged that he filled out repatriation forms and other needed documents around forty times, but was never approved.
“I don’t know how this process is working but there is something that is not right,” Zekria said. “I pay taxes. The worst thing is my rent and car payment is due in a week and I am scared to get eviction in Arizona while I am here.”
Zekria thinks he lost the chance to escape, “To be honest, I don’t believe I’m getting out safe.”
Zekria is now living in a house with his wife, three brothers, four sisters, his parents, and his uncle in Kabul. He recognized that if the Taliban finds out that he aided the Americans then he and his family could end up dead.
“There is no safety for anyone – especially for interpreters and the ones who worked with Americans, their families, plus all of the military and the Afghan military – they just arrest whoever worked for the government,” he said. “This is why I was scared, and why I came to Afghanistan, to do something, at least, to save my family, but it didn’t happen, and now I got stuck here, too.”
“There is curfew at 10 p.m. and the Taliban, every night, is getting into houses. They are beating people. I am witnessing it,” Zekria said.
He said that Taliban militants are “searching people’s phones and pockets.”
“No one can get out of the country. You cannot get out. It is like a prison,” he said. “The Taliban are finding any possible way to keep people inside and not let anyone leave the country.”