BERLIN (Reuters) – An Afghan man who worked at the German army base in Mazar-i-Sharif on Monday described his fear of retaliation from Taliban insurgents if he and his family were not lifted out of Kabul where they are hiding.
“Me and my family, we came to Kabul to be in a safe place. And right now, I am underground,” the man said in a video sent to Reuters via WhatsApp.
Thousands of Afghans fear what will happen now Taliban forces have overrun the country. Many hurried to the airport in Kabul to try and catch one of the last flights out before the Islamist militants took over from U.S. troops there.
Germany said on Monday it would airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual nationals as well as human rights activists and lawyers and individuals who worked with NATO forces in the country.
The speed with which Taliban insurgents captured city after city stunned NATO allies, who apparently misjudged the ability of Afghan government forces to hold back the fighters unaided.
“Today, I have been at the airport in order to go somewhere with my family, to a safe place, to Germany or the USA,” the former employee at the German military camp told Reuters.
“But unfortunately, the situation was very bad and there were Taliban controlling outside the airport … Me and my family are all in danger. It’s not only me, whoever worked for the German army, all their families are at risk.”
(Reporting by Claire Watson, writing by Sabine Siebold, editing by Joseph Nasr and Mike Collett-White)
