Saving the Englewoods: US Special Forces hear father's plea to get wife and daughters out of Kabul
A Colorado family that was left stranded in Afghanistan after their flight home was canceled has safely made it out of the war-torn country that has been taken over by the Taliban. This comes after the desperate father from Colorado has made an urgent plea for the rescue of his wife and children stuck in Kabul.
The Englewood family were reportedly hiding out in the city after being stuck when the Taliban took over Afghanistan on Sunday while they were in the country visiting relatives.
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As per the latest reports, the father, who is unidentified, has reached out to former Special Forces Colonel Patrick Allen asking for help after their Turkish Airlines flight back home on Sunday was canceled hours before it was due to take off. The trio, all of whom are US citizens, made it on to a flight to Qatar. "It worked out for us, but it was touch and go all along," Allen reportedly said.
"She was ready to get out of there because the situation was getting worse. Turkish Airlines canceled her flight," Allen continued. "So, somehow in this process, they made it to the airport and it had to be, [they had to] go past Taliban lines. But they waved her through as she got to the airport and the US military brought her in."
"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."
After Kabul was taken over by the Islamists, the father booked a flight home for his wife and children on Sunday. However, the flight was canceled just hours before it was due to depart.
"Around midnight, I got a text message from Turkish Airlines saying that her flight got canceled," he said.
When that didn't work out, the man contacted retired Special Forces colonel Patrick Allen, who served in Afghanistan, and he reached out to State Representative Jason Crow for assistance. "The immediate concern is we have U.S. citizens - they were Afghan nationals who became US citizens - who are now stuck in Kabul," Allen reportedly said. He continued, "These are fellow Coloradans and fellow Americans we are working with in the very immediate to get out of 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."
This news comes as the world watches dumbfounded the terror unfold in Afghanistan. Chaos continued for a third day at Kabul's Hamid Karzai airport as thousands of civilians desperately tried to flee the country before the Taliban impose their rule. The Associated Press reported at least seven people were killed at Kabul International Airport Monday as thousands of Afghans attempted to flee the country.