Afghanistan: US troops 'land in Kabul to evacuate diplomats' - BBC News
Some 3,000 troops are expected, as the Taliban continues its lightning offensive through Afghanistan.
Zia Ghafoori says he cannot believe how quickly the country is falling to the Taliban Image caption: Zia Ghafoori says he cannot believe how quickly the country is falling to the Taliban

A former Afghan interpreter who worked for the US military tells BBC News that he and other Afghans who have escaped the country are consumed with worry at the worsening security situation.

“We weren’t expecting this, for the Taliban to take over so many places so quickly," says Zia Ghafoori, who was wounded while attached to a US Special Forces unit in 2008.

"We thought there was a back-up plan from the [the US and its coalition allies] to save the Afghan government and save Afghan families.”

Speaking from the state of North Carolina, where he now lives, he continues: “I think children will not get to be children. Females will be taken from their homes and married to Taliban fighters.”

“Our families are in danger right now. We don’t know what to do, where to go, or who’s going to take action. We could lose everybody.”

Mr Ghafoori, 37, added that he is concerned for the fate of thousands of Afghan interpreters who remain in the country.

“Everyone is worried about their families. Their parents. I fear they’re going to get tortured,” Mr Ghafoori said.

“Someone must think about those families that are over there.”

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