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Pregnant US woman trapped in Afghanistan says the Taliban are 'hunting Americans'

Sep 5, 2021, 17:58 IST
Business Insider
Taliban fighters stand guard at a checkpoint that was previously manned by American troops near the US embassy, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, August 17, 2021. AP Photo
  • A pregnant California native is one of 100-200 American nationals trapped in Afghanistan.
  • Nasria, 25, told Voice of America that she was losing hope that she would ever be evacuated.
  • She also told the outlet that the militant group was "hunting Americans."
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A pregnant American woman trapped in Afghanistan told Voice of America that the Taliban was "hunting Americans."

Nasria, 25, from California, flew to Afghanistan in June to visit family and marry her Afghan national husband.

After the Taliban took over the country, Nasria was unable to get on an evacuation flight.

Despite assurances from the State Department that she would be evacuated, Nasria remains stuck in the country.

"There's been days where I think to myself am I going to make it home? Am I going to end up living here? Am I going to end up dying here?" she told VOA.

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Although US forces evacuated over 124,000 civilians from Afghanistan, including 6,000 Americans, around 100-200 Americans remain trapped there, VOA reported.

Nasria told the outlet that now that the US military is gone, the Taliban is "hunting Americans."

"Apparently, they're going door to door now trying to see if anyone has a blue passport."

Reports have also emerged of Taliban fighters carrying out revenge killings of those who previously worked with foreign forces, despite promises of a general amnesty.

Nasria described the traumatic experience of trying to leave Afghanistan amidst the chaos at Kabul airport.

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She said she and her husband spend days sleeping on the streets around the airport, hoping to get on a flight.

She eventually got in touch with the State Department, who told her to meet them at a specific location near the airport, but despite waiting for 12-13 hours at the location with no food and water, no officials arrived.

Nasria had permission to enter the airport and board an evacuation flight, but Taliban guards prevented her from getting past them.

"Our troops were literally at the gate, just waiting for us to continue walking, and [Taliban fighters] had blocked us," she told VOA.

At one point, she managed to get past the fighters. "They started shooting right by my leg and told me to come back, or they will shoot me," she told the outlet.

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Nasria said her Afghan national husband pleaded with the Taliban to allow her to get through without him, but she refused to leave him.

"My child is going to need a father and I'm going to need a husband by my side," she told VOA.

She told the outlet that she had lost faith despite assurances from the State Department that they would help her leave.

The Pentagon has said it is "obviously concerned" about the Americans left behind, although they did not think the numbers were large.

Defense Department press secretary John Kirby told CNN that Americans in Afghanistan were at risk of attack from the Taliban or ISIS-K.

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Kirby added that US officials "have other tools available to us as a government to help the safe passage of Americans get out of that country or any other country."

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