Sacramento Mother Pleads For Help From Kabul Airport
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento family, including a mother and her four children, were desperately pleading for help to get out of Afghanistan. They have been stuck in Kabul since the Taliban takeover.
The family asked not to be identified because they fear what the Taliban could do.
"Can you help us?" the mother asked.
Her children are ages 7 to 14.
The youngest could be seen laying on the ground, covered in a blanket trying to sleep.
"See? It's all over dust? Just a blanket, to sleep on that," a cousin of the family said.
Scenes of chaos have been playing out at the Kabul airport since the Taliban takeover.
The father in the family is a former armed guard at the US Embassy in Afghanistan, and he was able to make it home to Sacramento by getting on one of the first flights out.
A spokesperson for the Sacramento Valley non-profit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the situation is evolving rapidly.
"A lot of people are being asked to reach out to their elected member of Congress, their congressional representative in order to inform them about their family back home," CAIR's Oussama Mokeddem said.
During the video call with the Sacramento family, gunshots were fired at the airport gate. A cousin said the shots were fired as a deterrent by Afghanistan Armed Forces.
"They are not allowing people to come close up to the gates," the cousin said.
The chaotic scene at the Kabul airport is keeping a Sacramento mother and her children stuck in the middle of this international humanitarian crisis.
Late Monday night, we reached out to Congressman Ami Bera's office to connect them with this family. We will update you on how that helps.
Meanwhile, this family will continue going to the airport every night. They say they feel the airport is safer at night than during the day.