Fearful Of The Taliban, At-Risk Afghans Urgently Seek A Way Out
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, a former Afghan army colonel named Mohammed became part of the massive crush of people trying to flee at the Kabul airport last week. Mohammed and his family — a wife and five children — waited for hours to reach a Taliban checkpoint outside the airport. He presented identification documents that included his U.S. Social Security card and a Texas driver's license, both acquired during two training stints at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, more than a decade He hit a wall of hostility. "The Taliban stopped everybody, including me," said Mohammed, who is being identified by only his first name to protect him from possible Taliban reprisals. "When they saw American documents, they wanted to tear them all up. But my wife yelled at them. She didn't allow them to tear up the documents."
