REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
- An Afghan Air Force pilot spoke out about hiding from the Taliban and pleaded for US help.
- “If we are not rescued, then the Taliban will execute us,” the pilot, not identified by name, told the Bulwark.
- “We loved fighting alongside Americans,” the pilot said, asking the US, “please don’t leave us behind.”
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An Afghan Air Force Pilot currently in hiding from the Taliban detailed his fear of imminent death at the hands of the Taliban and pleaded with the United States to “please don’t leave us behind” in an interview with The Bulwark.
The swift collapse of the US-backed Afghan government over the weekend and nearly overnight Taliban takeover of the country amid the US’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan caught the Biden administration off guard and led to chaos at Hamid Karzai Airport on Sunday, complicating the US’ evacuation efforts.
The pilot received military training in the United States at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California and in Texas and served over 15 years in the Afghan Air Force, saying he “loved working with my American Air Force advisors the most.”
Like many endangered Afghanis speaking out in foreign news outlets, the pilot was not identified by name by The Bulwark and did not disclose his location.
“I’m currently in hiding. We are hoping to get out. If we are not rescued, then the Taliban will execute us,” the pilot said.
The pilot explained to The Bulwark that Afghan Air Force and Afghan Special Operations Forces troops are at particular risk now due to their close collaboration with the US and their highly visible role in society, saying, “We were celebrated by the Afghan people, so everyone knows us.”
“The AAF was very good. Because we were very good, the Taliban hunted us relentlessly over the last year. I lost many friends to Taliban assassins,” the pilot said.
In a Monday speech on the status of the Afghanistan withdrawal, Biden laid much of the blame for the failure of the US’ 20-year presence in the nation at the ends of the Afghan government and the Afghan Security Forces.
The pilot, however, argued that a loss of morale, the departure of US military contractors earlier in the year, and “senior leaders” in the country who, in his telling, “lined their pockets and simply vanished from the country,” were far more significant factors than a lack of will among rank-and-file soldiers.
“Many Afghan soldiers died bravely. I’ve been fighting for over fifteen years. We did not all just give up and quit. Yes, some did,” he said. “Once the Americans left, we weren’t ready to start doing all the logistics.”
The pilot added that “we’ve been fighting for decades-and some of us, even longer,” but “when the U.S. left, it really affected morale, especially how quickly it happened. We woke up one day, then Bagram was gone. Everyone got scared. It got out of control.”
The pilot also put out an urgent call to be rescued by the United States.
Lawmakers, Afghanistan war veterans who worked alongside Afghan soldiers and contractors, and advocates are criticizing the Biden administration for not acting more urgently to secure the safety of Afghan military personnel, contractors, and interpreters who fought alongside the US and its coalition partners.
Biden, in his Monday speech, argued that many Afghanis don’t want to leave despite the ongoing bureaucratic backlog of tens of thousands of Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) from eligible personnel and their families.
“There are a lot of Afghans who trusted the United States. Not just translators. Not just civil society activists, but also Afghan soldiers. We loved fighting alongside Americans,” the pilot told The Bulwark, adding, “Please don’t leave us behind. Please. We will be great Americans.”
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