"Save The Stranded: A post Afghan-American War Project"

"Colonel Omer was halfway down the stairwell when he realized he left the binder with his certificates, awards, and his ticket to the United States on his desk. There hadn’t been time to even lock the door as his hasty departure was more of a reflex than a deliberate action. He ran through the MOD compound then through the main gate. Before he exited the compound for the last time, he turned around to look at his office and saw, through the smoke filled office windows, multiple Taliban fighters rummaging through his office. His heart sank because he knew what they had found. They now knew everything about his two decades of service with the Americans and worse still, they now knew where he lived and had photographs of his wife and children."

“After the last plane left Kabul, the Taliban came looking for me and everyone I love. When they first came, I was hiding with my wife and my children in the basement of an abandoned building. They were heavily armed, and we had no way to defend ourselves. My father told me not to tell anyone where we were hiding because he knew the Taliban would return. After five days, they came back and tortured my dad hoping to extract my location. The Taliban beat my dad severely, but he gave them nothing.  

Shurali returned to Afghanistan in June 2018. Anxious to flex his wings and fly his A-29 in combat for the first time, he was cleared to drop two MK81 250lb bombs on a known Taliban drug manufacturing center in Ghazni Province. “I was so proud. I couldn’t wait to tell my family,” says Shurali, “My excitement ended fast. Once they learned who dropped those bombs, the Taliban threatened to kill everyone in my family. For the next three years, everyone I loved had to change homes and cities every three to four months. It was a constant struggle to stay ahead of the Taliban scouts and their information networks. It was hard on everyone. I worried when I was in the air. I worried when I was on the ground.” 

“Seven of us hide from the Taliban in my house,” says Mateen, “ No one has a source of income or has a way to get money for food. We spend all day inside the house because we’re too scared to go outside. We don’t want to draw the attention of the Taliban. My family worked at the American Embassy to support our family and so I could go to school. Because of where they worked, we will suffer execution.”  

Amooz told Operation Freedom Birds that his family is currently hiding in a new location. “They’ve already had to change locations several times. There’s 30 people living in a small room with limited food and limited clean water.” Amooz continues, “For food, two little girls (9 and 11 years old) are forced to leave the house and find as much food as they can every day. No one can buy anything because no one has access to money.”   

“Now that the residents of Helmand Province are in Kabul, I can’t walk down the street or go to the market because I'll be recognized as someone who worked with the United States,” says Abdul. “The Taliban offer a reward for anyone who helps locate the families in hiding. We burned every document, ID badge, and certificate I received from the U.S. If they find me, they will kill all of us. My mom; my dad; and even my kids.”  

 “While assembling our aircraft, our Aghan Air Force Commander called everyone to the ramp and said Kabul had fallen. He told us to gather as many planes and pilots as we could then fly our planes to Uzbekistan. All of us had to abandon our families. There wasn’t a chance to arrange for their safety or even to say good-bye. I left my wife and children knowing the Taliban would kill the families of pilots who fought alongside and supported the United States. Pilots and pilot families are at the top of the Taliban’s most wanted lists. As a man, how can I look at myself in the mirror after making that horrible decision? I sacrificed, once again, for my country and for our allies. I never believed the U.S. would abandon us like this.” 

 “The Taliban were looking for me because I was helping the Americans. When they couldn’t find me, they went after my family to try and draw me out,” says Tolo. “They stabbed my younger brother six times. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. He was just an innocent kid.” The Taliban told him, ‘This is what you get for having a brother working for Americans. Tell your family we will do the same to all of you.’”Tolo moved his brother from hospital to hospital because the Taliban sought to finish the job and kill him. It was a race to stay ahead of the Taliban’s scouts. Over the course of a year, he and his brother walked across multiple countries, border crossings, avoided countless security checkpoints, and hiked over part of the Himalayan mountain range until they reached an undisclosed country in Europe 

 “I grew up in war,” says Yasmoon. “When I was a little girl, a rocket was fired into our home. It took my sister’s head off right in front of me. She died instantly. The explosion drove glass shrapnel into my leg. Decades have passed, and I still have the scars. The Taliban only allowed me four years of formal education. I vowed if I ever had the ability to leave, I would. I wouldn’t let my daughter grow up under the Taliban the way I did.”