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It’s been two days since Syed Parast heard from his brother-in-law, an American citizen trapped in Afghanistan with his wife and four children aged 4, 7, 8, and 13.
The family went to Afghanistan for a wedding and stayed for several months to visit with the family. I was planning to return to the United States a few days before the Taliban took over, but when I went to Kabul Airport, ticket prices rose another $ 2,000 per person to $ 12,000 for a family of six. They couldn’t afford it, so they wait in Afghanistan and hope things change.
The left-behind brother-in-law owns a New York Chicken and Grill Restaurant in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Parast, owner of the Flame Kabob restaurant in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, came to the United States in 1988, but still has a family in Afghanistan. He has been unable to contact them since the Taliban took over.
“Most of the phones and the Internet aren’t working,” Palast told The Epoch Times, adding that the Taliban would cut off telephone service overnight from 9 pm to 6 am.
He is worried about his family. Watch social media carefully. And Palast and his wife are eagerly awaiting a short text update from their family.
Due to the closure of airports, government services, and most stores, people trapped in Afghanistan cannot find a solution.
“People are afraid to talk to Americans now,” Palast said. “People are afraid of the Taliban. It’s terrible. We had a good system, and unexpectedly the system collapsed and everything was handed over to the Taliban? Now everyone is broken heart Why doesn’t anyone like us? Why does everyone want to kill us? “
Television coverage of people taking off in Kabul and then clinging to a dead plane shows how afraid people are of the Taliban, Palast said.
“They did horrible things in the past,” Palast said. “Under the Taliban, you have to bear a beard to live or visit there. Women cannot leave the house alone and must be obscured. Unusable social media There are many. It’s like living under control. You can’t have free will there. If you want to live there, you have to obey the rules. You are free I can’t do anything to. I can’t wear different clothes or speak another language. It’s dangerous to use a lot of English words. “It worries his brother-in-law’s American-born children. Another reason to do it.
Parast confirmed on social media that most of the Afghan generals had disappeared.
“We don’t know where they are. They were picked up from their home, the home that was against the Taliban.”
On Wednesday, locals in Afghanistan sought to show resistance to the Taliban by removing the white Taliban flag and waving the Afghan three-colored flag. The Taliban responded with a shooting.
“You don’t have the right to say whether things are right or wrong,” Parast said in response to the incident. “You have to like them 100 percent, or you’re in trouble. It’s like a prison. People are scared of their neighbors.”
Palast does not understand why so many Afghans have died and millions of dollars have been spent in the last two decades, but they have only surrendered to the Taliban.
“There were soldiers there and they all disappeared. It doesn’t make sense,” Parast said. “they [the U.S.] The Afghan government surrendered to the Taliban. They could not take over Afghanistan without the help of the world powers. And now the same people in US prisons are in power and are you sitting there negotiating with them? Yesterday’s enemy. Today’s friend. “
“In the news, they talk about humanity. What — Afghans are not involved? Are Afghans not humans?”
Beth Brelje
Freelance reporter
Beth Brelje is a freelance research journalist covering the most interesting and sometimes hidden news in Pennsylvania’s politics, courts, and federal. Send her an idea for your story:
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