From Texas, the desperate appeal of parents: “Help us find it”
The desperate rush to the airport to escape the Taliban. In front of them a wall, but beyond that perimeter of gray concrete there is freedom. In the days of chaos in the Afghan capital, when thousands of people flocked to the gates of Hamid Karzai Airport in August to board evacuation flights, there were also Mirza Ali Ahmadi, 35, his wife Suraya, 32, children of 17, 9, 6 and 3 years and the little Sohail of just two months. The impressive crowd that had formed in front of the concrete perimeter, captured by satellite photos and TVs from all over the world, was frightening. One of the marines on the other side of the barbed-wire wall asked them if they needed help. Fearing that little Sohail would be crushed by the crowd, the two did not think for a moment and handed him over to the US soldier. After all, there were many, in those hours, who passed the newborns beyond the wall. The parents thought that they too would soon be able to get to the entrance which was only 5 meters away. But this did not happen. It took a good half hour before they got over the fence because the Taliban kept pushing back the crowd, but little Sohail was lost.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, the two parents recounted their odyssey in the hope that someone will recognize the child from photos released on social media and through the Afghan Refugee Relief, a support group for Afghan families that has launched a campaign since title “Missing baby.” Mirza, who for 10 years worked as a security guard at the US Embassy in Kabul, began to desperately ask all officials she met where her baby was. soldier told him that the airport was too dangerous and that little Sohail might have been taken to a children’s area, but he wasn’t even there. The commander “participated with me in searches around the airport”, Mirza said, stating that he did not know the name of the soldier because he did not speak English and was relying on Afghan colleagues at the US embassy to help him communicate. In three days, “I spoke with more than 20 people, ”Mirza told Reuters. “For every official – military or civilian – I came across, I asked about my baby,” but to no avail, he continued. “American aid workers and officials tell me they will do their best to find him, but they are only promises,” he added.
Mirza and his wife were then evacuated on a flight that first took them to Qatar and then to Germany and eventually landed in the United States. The family is now in Fort Bliss, Texas, with other Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled somewhere in the US. “All I do is think about my son,” Suraya said. “Everyone who calls me, my mother, my father, my sister, all give me comfort and say, ‘Don’t worry, God is good, your son will be found.'” A US official assures us that the case has been reported to all agencies involved, including US bases and locations overseas while a State Department spokesperson said the government is working with various partners and the international community “to explore every avenue and locate the child, including an appeal issued through the international center for missing children. ”In the hope that he is still alive.
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