Since the Taliban takeover, Afghans hoping to leave Afghanistan have few ways out
Sanaullah worked for two years as a combat interpreter for the U.S. military in Afghanistan — which, even on quiet days, meant risking his life. Almost as soon as he started the job in 2018, Sanaullah says he was watched and followed by the Taliban, and even heard of a plan that same year to kidnap and possibly kill him.
"But by the time they wanted to [carry out the plan] one of the guys who was living in the same building with me informed me," he says. He escaped by climbing through his apartment window, he says. NPR is only using his first name for security reasons.
Last year, President Biden vowed that Afghans who helped the U.S. military "are not going to be left behind." But since the U.S. left Afghanistan in August 2021, Sanaullah says he has been living on nothing but "broken promises."
"I know other people — just business owners — who got evacuated, but ... I am still waiting. I
