OTTAWA -- Hundreds hoped the sewer near Kabul airport would be their gateway to Canada, but when the last Canadian flight left early on Thursday, those desperate people were trapped at the same airport where suicide bombers staged an attack hours later, killing more than 70 people.
U.S. officials said that 13 U.S. service members were killed when explosions occurred near a crowded entry gate to the airport, followed by gunmen firing into the crowd. The act of terrorism was carried out by an Afghan chapter of the Islamic State Khorasan, known as ISIS-K.
At least 60 Afghans gathered at the airport in the hopes of escaping the country, were killed.
The family of a former interpreter with the Canadian Forces says they left the gate just hours before the blast. They had been waiting there for days for help.
“After four days and nights we came to home,” the former interpreter told CTV News. “Our house is near the airport, the sound of [the] explosion was horrible.”
An unknown number of Canadian families and Afghans with Canadian connections — such as those who aided Canadians, including former interpreters for the military — may have been caught in the deadly attack.
“All those allies who years and years worked for them,” the interpreter said.
He and his family had left the airport after finding out that their window to flee the Taliban’s rule on a Canadian flight had been slammed shut.
Officials confirmed Canada’s evacuation mission ended with a final airlift overnight. Canada’s withdrawal at this point was to allow the U.S. to meet their Aug 31st deadline for the withdrawal of their forces.
After nine flights out of Kabul, those left behind by Canada received a message from the government, saying no more planes would come for them.
“We wish we could have stayed longer and rescued everyone who was so desperate to leave. That we could not is truly heartbreaking, but the circumstances on the ground rapidly deteriorated,” Gen. Wayne Eyre, the acting chief of the defence staff said.
Only a small contingent of Armed Forces Personnel stayed on in the country. All were safe after Thursday’s explosions, the Canadian Forces confirmed.
Eyre said that Canadians were among the last to leave, and that Canada brought roughly 3,700 people out of Afghanistan. But roughly 8,000 applied for emergency help to come to Canada.
In an emotional briefing, he said that the conditions of the withdrawal at the airport were dangerous, and that they were under threat of attack constantly, praising the Canadian Forces for their work.
“They've witnessed horrific things. They've faced incredible dangers,” he said. “And the feeling of helplessness and guilt that arises from having to leave people behind can be overwhelming.”
But it’s little consolation to those left stranded. Among those now searching for other escape routes are families holding Canadian passports.
Hameid, whose last name we are not revealing, is in Canada organizing a campaign to get his parents and three sisters home.
They had travelled to Afghanistan for a wedding, and are now trapped. He added that one of his family members was “stepped on” in the crowd at the airport, “because what can you do, everyone is ‘take me, take me, take me.”
Hameid says he is hurt Canada isn’t doing more to aid his family.
“I don’t think that a status on somebody’s passport saves their lives,” he said. “It is more the efforts of the government [to ensure] that they belong.”
Afghan interpreters and contractors who worked with Canadian forces are also trapped, now looking for a new escape route via a third country.
They hope Canada will help secure VISAs, though Taliban checkpoints make any movement now extremely risky.
“If they find a single piece of paper which mentions NATO or U.S., that means we are dead,” said a former interpreter.
Another person who narrowly escaped death today is Reza. He waited at the Abbey Gate for hours — where a bomb would later explode. He escaped the explosion, but fears he may not escape the Taliban.
“I’m scared, as well as I’m really looking for a place to take my family because they deserve to live in a peaceful country,” he said.
He supported Canada’s role in Afghanistan, including a project to promote human rights, and received an award from Canada’s former ambassador, Deborah Lyons.
“We were working like friends, but today it’s not that,” he said. “That friendship is not working anymore.”
He and other former interpreters and allies hope that the country they worked for won’t turn its back now.
But just what Canada can do isn’t clear. And the devastating aftermath of the explosion is just further evidence of the chaos and violence those remaining in Afghanistan face.
With files from the Canadian Press
