Man was part of a unit to help three senators, whose helicopter had to land urgently in Afghanistan in 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, American veterans helped him leave The country fell to the Taliban hands.
Le Monde with AFP
An Afghan interpreter who had participated in a Joe Biden rescue mission when his helicopter had been urgently in Afghanistan in 2008 managed to flee the country after hiding the Taliban for several weeks, confirmed, Monday, October 11, the US State Department.
Aman Khalili crossed the border with Pakistan with his family before being evacuated by plane to Doha, Qatar, where thousands of Afghan civilians are waiting to get an immigration visa to the United States, specified at the France-Presse agency (AFP) a spokesman. According to the Wall Street Journal , the interpreter, his wife and five children have been helped in their flight by American-Afghan volunteers and veterans Americans.
In position on the Bagram air base, it was part of a unit that came three senators, Joe Biden, John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, visiting Afghanistan in February 2008. Taken in a snowstorm, their helicopter had to land urgently in a valley about thirty kilometers from the base. Once the three elected officials, the interpreter had mounted the guard for thirty hours around the devices while waiting for a favorable weather window to redecollate.
an emergency procedure to get an American visa
After the turnover of the Taliban in mid-August, the family had rallied Kabul airport when the United States had organized a vast air bridge to evacuate American citizens and Afghans who collaborated with the US authorities . But the military had refused to leave his family entering the secure enclosure.
He had requested the help of President Joe Biden in a letter published on August 31 by the Wall Street Journal. “Hello MR. PRESIDENT: Save me and my family. Do not forget here,” he begged, claiming to fear for his life.
The spokesperson for La Maison Banche, Jen Psaki, had assured that the United States would help him. “Thank you for being beaten to us these last twenty years,” she said. “We’ll let you go”.
At the end of the air bridge, which evacuated more than 120,000 people, Aman Khalili and his family hid in a safe place in Kabul. After trying to take an airplane in northern Afghanistan, they ran clandestinely the Pakistan border on October 5, according to the Wall Street Journal. The daily states that the State Department has triggered an emergency procedure for the family to obtain a special immigration visa to settle in the United States.