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After the Taliban came to power: Biden's former interpreter managed to escape from Afghanistan

2021-10-12T05:27:08.190Z


He had tried in vain to catch one of the rescue flights from Kabul. Now Joe Biden's former interpreter has left Afghanistan by land - after a desperate cry for help.


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Joe Biden: In 2008 he had to make an emergency landing due to a snow storm in northern Afghanistan

Photo: MICHAEL REYNOLDS / EPA

In 2008, Aman Chalili was part of a rescue mission that brought a US delegation headed by today's President Joe Biden out of a dangerous situation in Afghanistan.

Less than two months after the Taliban came to power, the former interpreter Biden managed to escape from Afghanistan.

Chalili traveled to Qatar via Pakistan, the US State Department announced on Monday.

The translator had worked regularly for the US military and accompanied soldiers on combat missions. In 2008 he was part of a small emergency force that rescued Biden and his companions after their helicopter had to make an emergency landing in a remote area due to a snow storm. At that time Biden was visiting Afghanistan with Senators Chuck Hagel and John Kerry, who later became Secretary of State. There were concerns that US politicians stuck in the mountains could be attacked by the Taliban.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Khalili and his family, with the support of US veterans and US Afghan volunteers, had hidden in secret accommodation in Kabul for the past few weeks before they crossed the border with Pakistan by land last Tuesday crossed. From there they were brought to Doha on a US government machine. According to the Wall Street Journal, Chalili, his wife and their five children are now to receive visas for the United States in an accelerated process.

After the radical Islamic Taliban came to power, Chalili's family tried in vain to escape from Kabul on an evacuation flight.

After the end of the international airlift, Khalili went into hiding with his family and called Biden for help in the Wall Street Journal.

"Hello Mr. President, save me and my family," he told the newspaper.

"Don't forget me here." The State Department in Washington then promised to help the interpreter.

“We'll get you out of there.

We will honor your service, ”said Ministry spokeswoman Jen Psaki at the time.

For the first time since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, representatives of the US and the Taliban met in person in Doha at the weekend.

The talks also dealt with the departure of former local workers who are still stuck in Afghanistan.

asc / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-10-12

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