Afghanistan: Last interpreter evacuated by UK rescued in dramatic nighttime rescue | world News

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The rescue of the last Afghan translator evacuated to the UK came at night when British soldiers gathered him and his family – including a three-month-old baby – over a barbed wire fence and at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.

Man S, who had spent six days waiting in the dust and heat outside the compound with his wife, young daughter and three-year-old son, had given up hope of catching an evacuation flight from Afghanistan.

“I’m in Hell,” he told me Thursday morning, while stuck in miserable limbo.

S spent three years as an interpreter for British forces in the south of the country, only stopping after the car he was in was hit by a roadside bomb.

Photo: S was a translator for British forces in Afghanistan

Although this was in 2011, he said he is still being pursued by the Taliban, who consider anyone working with British forces a traitor.

He had applied to a British government resettlement scheme for permission to move to the UK, and was accepted.

But the birth of his daughter three months ago slowed his plans to leave.

When the Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban took over, he knew he had to act.

Image: S’s wife fainted in the heat and fears for the life of his daughter in such large crowds

Despite the danger to his life and the lives of his family members, he traveled to Kabul with his papers, proving his eligibility for assistance.

They waited outside the Baron Hotel near the airport – the main processing point for people wanting to be evacuated to the UK.

But no one called them forward.

At one point, his wife fainted due to the heat and feared for the life of his child amidst large and unpredictable crowds.

The United Kingdom on Wednesday evening warned of an imminent terrorist threat to the airport and urged people to stay away.

But the “x” remained in place. He said he had no choice. In his opinion, the Taliban were as much a threat to him as the Islamic State.

The next day, the terrorist threat became a reality as a suicide bomber stormed the crowd and killed dozens of people.

S and his family survived the explosion unharmed but were forced to move away.

On Friday, exhausted, frightened and in hiding, S continued to text a number for a call center set up by the UK and run by Afghan translators.

He asked for help, but received no response.

Photo: His son and child were waiting with him at the airport, hoping for a flight to safety

Finally in the middle of the night, S woke up to his mobile phone ringing.

A voice on the other end told him to take a taxi with his family to the airport because he would be allowed a ride.

He and his wife set off with their children to one end of the airport.

It was around 1 am on a Saturday morning.

They left the taxi and walked towards the entrance for about 20 minutes.

The person who called him – an Afghan interpreter still working with the British army – gave directions about where he and his family should go.

But once they reached the gate, there was still a large crowd. They could not pass.

The phone rang again, the person on the other end advised him to stay away from the crowds and then sent a light signal through the barbed wire surrounding the airport.

Suddenly British soldiers and the translator he was talking to appeared.

They took S, his wife, baby and toddler by wire to safety.

“I finally arrived at the airport,” S said in a letter. “All are good.”

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