Thousands of Afghans who are eligible for a U.S. evacuation out of the country now face one final life-and-death hurdle — getting to Kabul without being captured or killed by the Taliban.
With the Taliban advancing against Afghan security forces in every corner of the country as U.S. troops withdraw, several Afghans who are eligible for a U.S. visa told NBC News they fear they will be stranded in far-flung towns and are struggling to find the money and means to get themselves and their families to Kabul.
For the first U.S. evacuation expected next week, the Afghans were told to show up to Kabul for a final medical exam as soon as Monday, according to an email shared with NBC News and accounts from refugee advocacy groups. “In order to come on an evacuation flight, they would have to get themselves to Kabul,” one of the senior officials said. “Obviously, we don't have national U.S. military presence. We don't have an ability to provide transportation for them.”
Refugee advocates vouched for his case, and he said he received an email from U.S. immigration authorities this week telling him he had been approved for a Special Immigrant Visa and needed to be ready to leave on a flight from Kabul to the U.S. within days.Sajjad Hussein / AFP - Getty Images In the meantime, Mohammad will have to bid farewell to his mother, who did not qualify for a visa, and his brother, who also worked with the Americans but whose U.S. visa application is still in limbo, he said.01:42
At first he tried to keep his job secret, he said, telling friends and relatives he worked as a pharmacist but slowly, knowledge of his real occupation spread through his hometown from cousin to cousin, friend to friend.,” he said, adding that now everyone there knows he worked as an interpreter for departing U.S. forces.
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