City man trapped in Afghanistan makes desperate dash for safety
A DERBY man trapped in Afghanistan is facing a desperate dash to the border to try to get his family into a safe country.
Derby North MP Amanda Solloway says she is doing all she can to help safely bring back the husband and father to the UK.
Due to safety fears the man, who holds UK citizenship, is being identified only as “Mr P” at this stage.
Earlier this week it was reported the 42-year-old, who runs an electrical business in Derby, took the dramatic decision to leave his family and fly out to Afghanistan to protect his mother and sister as the Taliban took control of the country again, causing deep civil unrest.
But Mr P has not been able to get back to the UK after the Government ended its evacuation exercise, causing local concern, with Labour leader for Derby, Baggy Shanker, writing to the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) urging them to help him out.
Mr Shanker says following an unsuccessful trip to Kabul to try and board a plane, the family have now travelled dangerous roads and checkpoints back to their home town/city of Mazar-i-Sharif in north Afghanistan.
Mr P and his family are now attempting to travel further north to the country of Uzbekistan in the desperate plight to a safe place and to seek a safe passage home.
Mrs Solloway told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The situation in Afghanistan is devastating and I have been doing all I can to help constituents who have contacted me for assistance.
“The Government have been doing the best they can to bring people to safety and I am pleased to see the implementation of operation ‘Warm Welcome.’ “This is an incredibly difficult situation with its ongoing challenges and I will be continuing to help and support my constituents in every way possible”. With the Taliban taking over many cities and then the country, Mr P decided to go out and try to help his mother and sister - therefore leaving his wife and children in Derby.
Mr P arrived in Afghanistan last weekend via Uzbekistan. His mother and sister originally lived in Mazar-iSharif and fled to Kabul due to heavy fighting - they are worried as Mr P has UK Citizenship they will be targeted.
The FCDO said it can’t comment on individual cases when asked about Mr P’s situation.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “More than 15,000 people including British nationals, our Afghan staff and others at risk have been evacuated from Afghanistan by the UK since 15 August in one of the biggest operations of its kind in history.”
UK Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said yesterday that evacuation flights from Afghanistan could resume “in the near future” following discussions to allow more British nationals and Afghan allies to leave Afghanistan.