Abbas fought the Taliban alongside US and Australian troops. Now exiled in Iran, he feels abandoned
Five years after the fall of Kabul, the former Afghan soldier is stuck in the middle of a new American war War is Abbas’s* earliest memory. As a child, the first iteration of Taliban rule forced his family to flee – with nothing but the clothes on their backs and what food they could carry – for the relative safety of far-distant hills. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Continue…
Five years since the collapse of Kabul, former Afghan soldier Abbas finds himself caught in the middle of a new American war, now in Iran as an exile. As a child, his family fled from Taliban rule, seeking safety in distant hills. He joined Afghanistan's fledgling army, fighting alongside US, Australian, and British troops, believing in the foreigners' false promise of peace and prosperity.
Now, the resurgent Taliban seeks him as a target, despite his past service. Abandoned US military databases are being used to hunt down former soldiers who served the "infidel" West. Abbas joined the army initially for financial stability, but developed a strong commitment to his country and a desire to fight the Taliban and destroy terrorist groups.
He spent 12 years in the Afghan national army, most of those years serving with foreign forces, including Australian troops in Khas Uruzgan district, where he participated in combat missions alongside them. He was wounded in a firefight and taken to Bagram hospital, where he still bears a metal plate in his left arm. Abbas remembers the camaraderie he shared with his western comrades and the commitments they made to support one another.
However, when Kabul fell, he was forced to burn most of his documents and destroy photographs, leaving him vulnerable to retribution from the Taliban. Since then, Abbas' family has faced precarious and dangerous circumstances in Iran, with their future hanging in the balance as they search for a safe haven away from the Taliban's reach.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian Australia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
