A former US military interpreter stranded in Afghanistan says nobody told her the last flight out of the country was leaving
Laura Hasani/Reuters
- A US citizen and former military interpreter has spoken out about being stranded in Afghanistan.
- She told CNN that nobody had told her that the last US flight had left Kabul on Monday.
- She is one of an estimated 100 to 200 US citizens still in the country following the US withdrawal.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
An American citizen and former interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan, who has been trying to arrange evacuation flights for herself and others, said she wasn't told that the last flight out of the country was leaving.
In an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on Monday, the woman said that she was trying to leave, but not before she had helped at least some Afghan families and children out as well. The network named her "Sara" to protect her anonymity.
-Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) August 31, 2021
The last US military plane left Kabul airport on Monday, marking an end to the 20-year American military campaign. Without US military assistance, Afghan forces collapsed in the face of the Taliban militant group, which have swept the country with astonishing speed.
"Sara" told CNN: "I just found out that [the US] left and I was just silent for a little while."
"I just can't believe no one told me that this is the last flight."
In an earlier interview with the network, she said she had 19 children, two of whom are disabled, among the 37 people sheltering in her home. Their families, she said, had worked with US citizens.
She said on Monday that for the past 48 hours, she and her companions had been going "from gate to gate," following State Department instructions and getting past Taliban checkpoints in their efforts to secure safe passage out.
Worried for her safety and that of the people she is sheltering now the US has left, she said: "I never had the heartbeat that I have today, this morning when they told me the Americans left."
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken estimated on Monday that around 100 to 200 US citizens remained stranded in Afghanistan.
He said the State Department had "worked intensely" to evacuate Afghans who have worked alongside the US, and that US efforts to help them leave have "no deadline."
The situation is markedly different to a commitment made by President Joe Biden around two weeks ago in an interview with ABC News. In that interview, he said he would keep US soldiers in the country until every US citizen and Afghan ally who wanted to leave had done so.
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