Afghan pilots high on the Taliban hit-list have taken to social media to beg foreigners to save them
People claiming to be US-trained Afghan pilots who say they are high on the Taliban hit-list have taken to social media to beg Australians and other foreigners for help before they are murdered for working with the coalition forces.
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People claiming to be US-trained Afghan pilots who say they are high on the Taliban hit-list have taken to social media to plead to Australians and other foreigners for help.
One terrified man who contacted the Courier Mail Thursday said he was so afraid he would be murdered if Taliban soldiers found him that he had not slept in 38 hours.
“I am a pilot in the Afghan air force as the Taliban group has initiated a program to eliminate US-NATO trained pilots, my life is at risk,” he said.
“During that time I have been stuck in Kabul. Please help, my life is very at risk as I have already received death threats from Taliban. Please help.”
The man, who provided documents to prove his identity and qualifications but asked not to be named for safety reasons, said he and others were in hiding and afraid for their lives since the Taliban take over earlier this week.
He said he “loved working and training alongside the Americans,” but claimed a Taliban program to eliminate NATO-trained pilots had begun.
“Taliban are saying to the world that they have changed, but the truth is they have not,” he said.
“I am afraid for my life because they are hunting for us in some areas. They have started door to door searching and I have been receiving death threats.
“The Afghan air force played a very important role in holding terrorists back. They say since pilots were trained by US and NATO that makes them angry and, according to them, all the pilots deserved to be killed … They believe in revenge killings.”
The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan for five years before the US-led military forces ousted them in 2001 following the September 11 attacks.
It took the group – listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations – less than two weeks to take control of Afghanistan as the US, Australia and other allied forces ended their 20-year presence in the country and withdrew their troops.
Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, fell on Sunday night after Taliban fighters entered the presidential palace and declared victory.
Since then, many civilians and Afghanistan military personnel who supported the western forces have fled or are in hiding and trying to escape the country.
In a recent statement to the Reuters newswire, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group had started a program that would see US-trained Afghan pilots “targeted and eliminated”.
In a tweet to his almost 30,000 followers, now US-based former Afghan pilot Colonel Rahman Rahmani wrote an “inside source” told him the Taliban were allegedly searching a Military of Defence database for a list of pilots, flight engineers and Special Operations Forces.
“Are they going to hunt them or force pilots to fly helos & planes for them! Either way, their lives r in great danger! (sic),” he wrote.
Col Rahmani said he had the names of more than 70 Afghan pilots and flight engineers registered on a list to send to the US Department of State and Department of Defence.
Some Afghanistan residents, including one Twitter used named ‘Eagle Eyes’, called Col Rahmani out on his claims.
“He is lying. Most of them who are complaining & doing propaganda is just because they desperately want to enjoy life in West, so easy way to show Taliban as bad as you can so that you are airlifted to West (sic),” he wrote.
The Blackhawk pilot told the Courier Mail four pilots from his Kabul-based unit were missing, with others killed in the last six weeks.
He said there had been tears as his fellow countrymen and women realised what had happened in the past few days.
“The Taliban is a terrorist group that kills innocent people, violates women’s rights and human rights,” he said.
“We have all seen what they have done in the past 20 years and I think almost everyone has had wounds from this terrorist group.
“We worked hard, we made sacrifices for nothing. Everything we lived for is gone. The government, my dream, women’s rights.
“We are still trying to process everything, to process why everything has gone wrong.”
The man said the Afghan military could have been more prepared but were taken by surprise by the sudden withdrawal of western troops and Taliban takeover earlier this week.
“While (coalition forces) were here we were certain to defeat the Taliban completely,” he said.
“But the evacuation of the US military, and some senior officials backing down, gave little time for the Afghan national defence force to regroup and fight back.
“I did not expect the Taliban to have taken over so soon.”
The pilot, who said he has not seen his parents for years for safety reasons, said he hopes someone can help him and other Afghan military members.
“I don’t know the exact day I will be caught and painfully executed,” he said.
“Are my parents dead, are they abducted, are they being used to find me?
“When will this even end or is this going to be my life now. Perhaps it’s how my story as a pilot will end.”
In a written statement, an Australian Department of Home Affairs spokesman said officials were working in partnership with the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Defence to ensure Afghan citizens who were eligible for Australia’s protection were processed and resettled as a priority.
“The Australian Government announced yesterday that, owing to the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, Afghan citizens will be prioritised for processing within Australia’s offshore Humanitarian Program,” he said.
“Within this program, 3,000 of the 13,750 places this year will be dedicated to ensuring Afghan citizens are offered permanent protection by Australia.
“This will include places from both the sponsored and refugee streams of the program.
“Particular priority will be given to persecuted minorities, women and children and those who have links to Australia, such as family members or those that have previously undertaken extended periods of study or work in Australia.”
The spokesman said applicants must meet the visa and Public Interest Criteria for Character, Security and Health requirements.
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