From Kabul the cry for help from an interpreter and his wife: “We want to live”

“Together with two other interpreters like me and their families, my wife and I traveled for 24 hours on a bus that took us from Herat, now under siege, to Kabul. When we escaped the situation was still calm, even now. everything has changed, even here we are now at risk. We came because the Italians and the Americans have assured us that in a few days they will take us away “. Speaking to Adnkronos is Sakhi, an Afghan interpreter who left Herat yesterday to escape the Taliban. His life, with a past as an interpreter employed for ten years in the most important meetings alongside the Italian military contingent, is in danger. He fled with his wife, a nurse and health trainer in various specialized medical centers in Herat, today he is in Kabul and asks to hurry up, not to let the Taliban find them. “Herat airport is under Taliban control, there are no flights – says Sakhi – that’s why we came by bus. My wife, who also worked for Unicef ​​and World Vision – had to wear the burqa for the first time. We shouldn’t have aroused suspicion. The Taliban stopped the bus at least 15 times, asked if there were interpreters, soldiers, government collaborators among us. Fortunately the driver was lucid, denying everything, and they did not recognize us. Today the situation here it seems calm, but they work against us, interpreters but also journalists, against those who represent a danger to them. The Taliban have strong intelligence, many officers have put themselves at their service in the search for anyone who has collaborated with international forces “. “I burned about 30 certificates received from Italy that demonstrated my work as an interpreter – he continues – I had the foresight to photograph them first and send the images to my brother who now lives in Italy, so as to have a demonstration of my work. . If I ever manage to reach him, I’ll take those documents back. ” Far from the reassurances of a “democratic regime” promised by the Taliban, the reality described to Adnkronos by Sakhi: “On Thursday, while I was going to work in the factory, I saw that the road was blocked – he says – the Afghan army was already facing the Taliban . I escaped, but ten hours later the whole province of Herat came under the control of the Taliban, including the airport. A Taliban representation broke into the mosque where we pray, forced all women to stay at home, announcing the closure of beauty centers and coffee shops. Since then, and until our departure for Kabul, my wife and I have never left the house, one of my brothers came to bring us food at home “. “I haven’t worked with Italians for 5 years, but where I live everyone knows me and if those who live here had been forced by the Taliban to reveal where I was hiding they would have had no choice – concludes Sakhi – My wife was prevented from going out, to go to work, if unaccompanied. But I would never have been able to show myself around, if they had recognized me it would have been suicide “. “We want to live – adds his wife – Please take us away”. (By Silvia Mancinelli)