Former Afghan interpreter for CAF describes chaos at Kabul airport

As many former Afghan interpreters for the Canadian military wonder if they'll be able to escape the Taliban, one man and his family were able to get on a plane, but their destination is unknown.

Fawad Ahmadzai was an interpreter for the Canadian Armed Forces, and this week he fought his way through airport gates to board a plane in Kabul.

"I had my Canadian passport. I was waving at them that I am a Canadian citizen," he told CTV News. "They were not even caring about which passport I carry, they would only push us and hit us, and shooting ahead of us, scaring us so that we could leave the ground."

Ahmadzai, his wife and four children didn't know where they would land, just that they were able to escape.

But others aren't as lucky. Max Sangeen was an interpreter for the Canadian Armed Forces, and now lives in Toronto, but his family is left behind. They’ve been sleeping outside the Kabul airport, his youngest child not even a month old.

"These guys have done all the paperwork, everything is done," he told CTV News. "My family, there is a child, born on July 26, just 20 days old."

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  U.S soldiers stand guard along a perimeter at the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. On Monday, the U.S. military and officials focus was on Kabul’s airport, where thousands of Afghans trapped by the sudden Taliban takeover rushed the tarmac and clung to U.S. military planes deployed to fly out staffers of the U.S. Embassy, which shut down Sunday, and others. (AP Photo/Shekib Rahmani)