A Colorado father has made a desperate plea for the rescue of his wife and children who are stuck in Kabul. The Englewood family are hi...
A Colorado father has made a desperate plea for the rescue of his wife and children who are stuck in Kabul.
The Englewood family are hiding out in the city after becoming stuck when the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan on Sunday while they are in the country visiting relatives.
The unidentified father has reached out to former Special Forces Colonel Patrick Allen pleading for help after their Turkish Airlines flight home on Sunday was cancelled hours before it was due to take off.
'My wife and daughters are, for now, hiding in a house in Kabul', the unnamed man told Fox31. 'I think it's chaos. There are a lot of lives in danger.
'She called my on Saturday night, crying that the Taliban are all over the city and she wanted to get out'.
A man in Colorado has made a desperate plea for the rescue of his wife and children who became stuck in Kabul after the city fell to the Taliban while they were visiting family
It comes as scenes of chaos at Kabul's Hamid Karzai airport continued for a third day as thousands of Afghans try to flee the country before the Taliban impose their rule
Panicked by the sudden fall of Kabul to the Islamists, the father booked a flight home from Kabul for his wife and children on Sunday, but it was cancelled hours before it was due to depart.
'Around midnight, I got a text message from Turkish Airlines saying that her flight got cancelled', he said.
The man then contacted retired Special Forces colonel Patrick Allen, who served in Afghanistan, and he reached out to State Representative Jason Crow for assistance.
Allen said: 'The immediate concern is we have U.S. citizens — they were Afghan nationals who became U.S. citizens — who are now stuck in Kabul.'
He warned the unnamed man's family were at risk 'as a result of them being so closely associated with American soldiers' as he called on the government to evacuate them.
'We can't have what was going on [on Monday], people holding on to airplanes and things like that.
'I especially care about my family here, my Afghan family, as I don't see myself as just a sponsor. They're pretty much our family, their children are our grandchildren.'
The man then contacted retired Special Forces colonel Patrick Allen, who served in Afghanistan, and pleaded for help
The unidentified man pleaded for the safe return of his family from Kabul
It comes as scenes of chaos at Kabul's Hamid Karzai airport continued for a third day as thousands of Afghans try to flee the country before the Taliban impose their rule.
Crowds at Kabul's airport today were forcibly dispersed by Taliban fighters who fired shots in the air and used whips and sharp objects to force thousands of Afghans away from the site.
Evacuation flights out of Kabul are taking off almost empty despite tens of thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country after the Taliban formed a ring of steel around the airport and barred most people from reaching it.
One Australian Hercules C-130 aircraft with room for 120 people took off with just 26 on board today, the government has confirmed, while a German Airbus A-400M with room for 150 was carrying just seven people when it departed yesterday.
That is despite there being around 50,000 Afghans gathered at the airport who have been promised sanctuary by western nations.
According to a British Ex-Pat and former Royal Marine, British and other foreign nationals are struggling to get through into Kabul airport, and are even being turned away.
'It is still a crush of desperate people at Kabul airport. Ex-pats still being turned away. Somebody get a grip, Paul 'Pen' Farthing tweeted Wednesday afternoon.
Calling on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders, he added: 'Somebody get a grip... I will not stop until you get it right.'
Most of those at the airport do not have travel documents, witnesses told MailOnline, and with most embassies closed or moved within the airport perimeter they now have almost no way to obtain them.
Meanwhile, those with documents say they daren't go near the airstrip for fear Islamist guards will haul them away.
And one airport worker told MailOnline that, even with correct documents, it took them two days to reach the terminal building after passing through five checkpoints along the way.
Desperate scenes have played out at Kabul Airport since Monday, with at least two falling Afghans falling to their deaths after they clung to the wheels of the US military evacuation flight.
Taliban fighters have now encircled the airport in Kabul and are deciding who gets to come in and who has to stay out. Checkpoints have been set up on both the civilian south side of the airport and the military north side, with gunshots fired in both locations to keep crowds back
While thousands of people have arrived at Kabul airport trying to get on flights out of the country (pictured), some western visa holders on the ground have said they are in hiding nearby for fear Taliban gunmen will target them
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, center left, warned the Taliban it will meet with 'overwhelming force' if it tries to impede evacuations from Kabul airport
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