THUNDER BAY – His fear is felt across the ocean, even though he’s a world away from war-torn Afghanistan, where fighting has been all the country has known for most of the past 40 years.
Mohamed, who asked not to be fully identified for fear of reprisal against family members still stuck in Afghanistan and within easy reach of the conquering Taliban, on Friday night arrived in Thunder Bay with his wife and two grown children.
An interpreter who worked with the Canadian military, Mohamed has a target on his back, but considers he and his family among the lucky ones.
Thousands were left behind this month, as the United States followed through on its promise to exit the country, ending a two-decade war against terrorism that erupted soon after the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre were flatted by a pair of hijacked airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I’m really happy to be here in Canada. I was not thinking that one day I would be in Canada,” Mohamed said, seated in a wheelchair on the lower level of the Thunder Bay Airport, where he was greeted by a cadre of local federal and municipal politicians, as well retired army veteran Robin Rickards, who spent three tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Together they helped make Mohamed’s Canadian dream a reality.
“I am very thankful to all the vets and all the Canadians who have helped us. They helped a lot, taking us out from Afghanistan. We were in a situation that was very critical,” said Mohamed, who hopes to put his Masters degree in agriculture in his new home land.
“All the time I was hiding. I fled from my village and I was hiding in one place, and then another house and then another house.”
Rickards was in touch with his former interpreter and told Mohamed he had to find a way out of the country before it was too late.
The Taliban, after marching over the Afghan military, quickly began sealing off access to the airport in Kabul, setting up checkpoints on highways into the city, as countries from around the world worked to evacuate not only their own citizens and military personnel, but those who helped along the way and risked the Taliban’s wrath.
Mohamed knows first-hand the ravages of war.
It’s another reason he wanted to leave it all behind.
“I lost my youngest son on Oct. 13, 2020,” he said.
Earlier this year he lost six more members of his extended family.
It was time to go.
“We were in fear of how to get to Kabul, then I went to Khost, by road and took a flight to Kabul,” he said, detailing his journey to the city of nearly 200,000 in the southeastern section of the country, a little north of the border with Pakistan.
“It was really dangerous to come by road my province to Kabul because they have checkpoints in the way. They are searching. Right now they are always searching for the interpreters that are back in Afghanistan.”
If caught, death was all but a certainty.
Rickards said getting Mohamed and his family out is the least Canada can do.
“Their story is literally the tip of the iceberg and most of those families are still submerged under the Taliban in Afghanistan. It’s unfortunate that politicians other than (Liberal) Marcus (Powlowski) didn’t see the need to act on this in a timely way,” Rickards said.
“Had they acted in a timely way, we would have been able to ensure there were dozens more families that were able to get out. We’ve already lost 16 gentlemen that worked for us in Kandahar City, that we know of. And now their widows and orphans are left there and we’re left struggling to figure out how we’re going to get them out. Today is a mixed day of emotions. We’re glad to see (Mohamed) and his family here, but I know there are so many more who haven’t been as fortunate.”
