City family’s desperate plea for help to escape Afghan hell
PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS AMONG GROUP TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN
A FAMILY from Nottingham who are trapped in Afghanistan have spoken of their plight and “terror” amid the Taliban takeover in the hope the Government will help return them to safety.
Nargas Ziahe, 24, who lives in Hyson Green where she works in admin, flew out to Afghanistan over six weeks ago following the death of an uncle, completely unaware of what was to come.
She says they were “taken by surprise” as Taliban forces swept across the country at a pace and scale that left even the UK Government dumbstruck, according to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
Ms Ziahe is now trapped in the Parwan province, in and around the town of Charikar with her brother Omar, five, and her sister Asma who is just nine years old.
A number of other family members are with her, including some of her uncles, who Ms Ziahe must travel with due to the Taliban’s restrictions which prohibit women going outside alone.
All women have been made to cover themselves.
Ms Ziahe’s younger siblings attend Mellers Primary School in Radford, which prompted headteacher Amanda Dawson to contact the family to make sure they were safe, having heard they had planned to travel to Afghanistan.
She said: “We realised yesterday that one of our school community families had been intending to travel to Afghanistan over the summer, so I contacted Mr Ziahe [Ms Ziahe’s father] to check that everyone was safely home.
“Unfortunately, Mr Ziahe told me that his wife, eldest daughter, younger son and daughter were all stuck in Kabul and didn’t know how to get home.
“I reassured Mr Ziahe that I would help, and trawled the internet to find out who I needed to contact to alert the Foreign Office to the family’s plight.
“Through the school’s Twitter account, I managed to find the right contact at the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, and was able to get the family, who are all British nationals, registered for repatriation flights.”
Ms Ziahe was instructed to visit the Baron Hotel in Kabul as all embassies had been evacuated.
There, at the hotel, which is next to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, her paperwork would be processed for repatriation.
Upon arrival, however, they met a Taliban blockade which would not let them pass.
They have now been in a camp just outside the airport which they say has no beds and no washing facilities.
“It is so scary,” Ms Ziahe told the Post, speaking from Afghanistan.
“There was so much shooting which was scaring my five-year-old brother.
“They are just shooting in the air. “We have spoken to the Foreign Office and our names are registered there.
“But there are no troops. I just want to be taken somewhere safe.
“No-one can do anything because all the shops are closed. It was just a big surprise for everyone.
“I am near the airport. We are sleeping on the floor. There is nowhere to wash, just little shops to get some water.
“It would be really nice if there were British or American troops here to get in touch with, because there are so many people. I am not saying they should come and fight, but we need soldiers to be here so we can see them and speak to them.”
The Post has seen videos of what is believed to be Taliban members holding AK-47 assault rifles, and heard voice-messages from nineyear-old Asma who says she is so scared of the gunfire she has been crying and “doesn’t know what to do”.
“This family is part of our Mellers family, our Radford family, our Nottingham family and our British family,” headteacher Ms Dawson added.
“The UK and US governments must make strong, definitive statements requesting guarantees that British nationals’ rights to repatriation and Afghan citizens who are in danger are given safe passage to the airport.
“If this doesn’t happen, both the US and UK must commit to providing forces on the ground to ensure the safety of British, US and other nationals as well as Afghan citizens who would be targets for the Taliban.”
Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood told the Post she had been in “constant” contact with the Government over Ms Ziahe’s situation.
She added: “We have been liaising closely with Amanda at the school. They have shared video footage of the Taliban blocking their route to the hotel.
“I will do everything I possibly can to get them home. I cannot even imagine the terror for the family but also the anxiety and stress.”
Responding to concerns for the family a spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “Our immediate priority is to help UK nationals and those who have supported the UK’S work in Afghanistan over the last 20 years to leave the country. “We continue to work at pace alongside MOD and Home Office colleagues to get them out of Afghanistan.”