Hiding From The Taliban, US-trained Pilots And Hundreds Of Afghans Are Waiting For Evacuation In Tajikistan

Illustration of US-trained Afghan pilot. (Wikimedia Commons/US Air Force/Senior Airman Cierra Presentado)

JAKARTA - A number of US-trained Afghan pilots are waiting for the help of their 'coaches' while they are stuck in Tajikistan, avoiding the Taliban and hoping to join forces with their military counterparts in other countries.

"I was scared. The worst things came to my mind," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect himself, cited from Reuters, Thursday, September 23.

The same feeling is also experienced amid increasing anxiety due to the uncertainty experienced by the pilots and other Afghan personnel, who have been 'detained' by the government in Tajikistan since fleeing August 15.

A total of 143 Afghans have been held in a sanatorium in a mountainous rural area outside the Tajikistan capital, Dushanbe, waiting and hoping for more than a month to be removed by the United States.

After flying there in 16 planes when their military ground forces were crushed in the face of the advancing Taliban, the Afghans said their phones were taken. They were initially placed in university dormitories before being transferred on September 1.

Afghan pilot illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Tech. Sgt. Veronica Pierce)

Contact with family is very limited. Although they appear to be being held under humane conditions, they are restless, uncertain about the future.

"We don't know about our destination. We are all worried about it," he said, noting he and his colleagues wanted to join other Afghan military personnel who are being processed for US visas in places like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany.

"Every time we ask the government of Tajikistan, they just answer: 'Please wait,'" said the second pilot, who spoke separately on condition of anonymity.

Among military personnel at the facility are two Afghan women, including a pilot who is eight months pregnant, a second pilot told Reuters.

Such a pregnancy would be an important reason to move them quickly, said David Hicks, a retired US brigadier general who helped lead a charity called 'Operation Sacred Promise' that works to evacuate and resettle Afghans.

There are also 13 Afghan personnel in Dushanbe, enjoying much more relaxed conditions. Some of the pilots told Reuters they flew separately to the country on August 15 and stayed in government buildings.

Afghan Air Force Mil-Mi 8 helicopter. (Wikimedia Commons/NATO Mass Communication Specialist/2nd Class Ernesto Hernandez Fonte Public Affairs Specialist)

Speaking on a video call, they said they had not been in contact with Afghans in the sanatorium. The pilot could not explain why the two groups were separated.

The US State Department declined to comment on the pilot in Tajikistan. Tajikistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

US-trained Afghan pilots in Tajikistan are the last major group of Afghan air force personnel abroad, which remains in limbo after flying dozens of state-of-the-art aircraft across the Afghan border into the country and Uzbekistan in the final hours of the war.

Earlier in September, a US-brokered deal allowed a large group of Afghan pilots and other military personnel to be flown out of Uzbekistan.

Some of the English-speaking pilots there feared they would be sent back by the Uzbeks to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, killed for inflicting so many Taliban casualties during the war.

Separately, Afghanistan's new rulers said they would invite former military personnel to join the country's renewed security forces and they would do no harm.

Illustration of an Afghan Air Force fighter plane. (Wikimedia Commons/MAS1357)

The offer sounded hollow to the Afghan pilot who spoke to Reuters. Even before the takeover of the Taliban, English-speaking US-trained pilots had been their main target. Taliban fighters tracked them down and killed them outside the base.

The pilot did not express concern the Tajiks would send the group back to the Taliban. But after more than a month, pilots and their supporters complained about the lack of urgency by the authorities to move the group.

Reuters has learned that US officials have begun collecting biometric information to confirm the identities of group members, in a sign that help is imminent. Similar efforts in Uzbekistan preceded the transfer of pilots from there.

People close to the pilots say the United States has collected biometric data on about two-thirds of the group so far.

Tajikistan says it has granted asylum to more than 3.000 refugee families from Afghanistan, a total of 15.000 people, in the past 15 years. Meanwhile, a Tajik government source familiar with the situation blamed delays by the United States and Canada in issuing visas.

The government of Tajikistan said the confiscation of the pilots' phones was for their safety because the Taliban could track the pilots' positions when contacting their families.

"You are not allowed to use your phone for the safety of your family," a Tajik official said, telling the second pilot.

However, this condition is proven to have a psychological impact, causing disturbing worries because they think about their families.