“Afghanistan is my home, Kabul is my home, but it is a home where I feel alone right now, stranded and alone'
Taliban militants patrol after taking control of Jalalabad, in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, on Sunday. Photo: Stringer/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The man — one of the countless Afghans now caught in the chaos of the country’s rapid fall to the Taliban — tried to get home to Kabul from the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province early this morning, but got caught in the crossfire between an elite Afghan special forces unit and Taliban fighters.
There are almost 5,000 Taliban fighters on the streets in Jalalabad, he says, but they have not come to homes yet. “I can manage here with my friends for now,” he explains. “If the roads stay closed, we will go on foot from Nangarhar to Kabul, maybe in a couple of days, [we can] reach Kabul on foot — but we will reach Kabul. Let’s just hope for a better solution first.”
“I have to find a country that will accept an Afghan passport, and do I still need a PCR test?” he asks. “Where can anyone even get a PCR test now?” Late tonight, security fell apart at Kabul’s airport, with hundreds of people running out to pack planes on the runway, desperate to get onto flights out of the country. Commercial air traffic has also been suspended, as NATO is only allowing military planes to use the runways. All day, helicopters had been flying back and forth between the U.S. Embassy and the airport, shuttling people out. Soon after the Taliban entered the city, Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
A lucky few, with bags packed and tickets booked, are waiting for an opportunity to get through the gates at the airport. Some have turned their efforts toward assisting Afghan friends with referral letters for visa applications, or looking for recommended refugee programs and agencies for colleagues who have provided indispensable support over the years. There is no one who has gone to Afghanistan who wasn’t helped by an Afghan.
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