A Brother’s Dying Words to Miracle Sisters Who Escaped the Taliban
U.S. allies across Afghanistan have been left to fend for themselves under the terror-fueled regime of the Taliban ever since the U.S. withdrew from the country nearly a year ago.
During the chaotic efforts to evacuate American partners from Afghanistan after it fell to the Taliban, The Daily Beast covered efforts to help evacuate two sisters, 20-year-old Meena and 27-year-old Nadia, both journalists who were on the Taliban’s infamous “kill list.” With the help of the Afghan war veterans group, Tarjoman.org, Meena, her mother, and brother crossed into Pakistan on Sept. 27, leaving behind their brother, his wife and their five children. After several months, the disbanded family made it to France, where they were reunited with Nadia, who was the first to evacuate the country to a refugee camp in the Netherlands.
“I never expected to see them again because of the way I left them behind, the way that I left behind people that were suffering,” Nadia told The Daily Beast. “The situation to get them out was dangerous and I was afraid I could lose them. That fear was unforgettable, like a nightmare making me wake up all of those nights without them. The day I met them I was thinking I was in a dream. I was hardly able to believe they were really there. It was a golden time.”
A Journalist’s Tortuous Escape From the Taliban ‘Kill List’
But their joyful reunion in France was short-lived. On the evening of June 15, the family received a shocking FaceTime call from their brother, Aryo, who was still living in Kabul. The 39-year-old former police officer said he had been brutally beaten by Taliban thugs on his way home from his aunt’s funeral in the city, after he was spotted wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a picture of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the assassinated commander of the resistance against the Taliban.
Though he was visibly weak, neither Aryo nor his family thought the injuries were fatal at the time of the FaceTime call. He told his family he was “fine” and urged them not to worry about him, they said.
“They took him with two other men to an unknown place and tortured him,” Meena told The Daily Beast. “The two men died from the torture then, but Aryo went unconscious. They thought he died too… When the Taliban left he ran away from there.”
But over the next couple of days, the severity of the attack and Aryo’s injuries became more clear. His family said that after he started to vomit blood, Aryo was finally checked into a hospital, where he was treated for internal bleeding.
But by then, it was too late. Aryo died hours after checking into the hospital on June 17, leaving behind his wife and five children, including his newborn daughter.
Meena provided photos to The Daily Beast of Aryo as he was dying during the final FaceTime call with her and their mother. The tearful women bid goodbye to Aryo as he asked his mother to “Forgive me, my sisters, and brothers. My body is hurting too much.”
Meena fought back tears in a voice memo to The Daily Beast describing how the family has been coping since the death of Aryo.
“My mom is always crying. I'm trying to keep her happy. It is really hard for my family back in Afghanistan and for my brother’s children... My niece lost her father at only 20 days old. He has such small children,” she said. “His 2-year-old keeps asking, ‘Where is my father?’”
She Escaped Before the Last U.S. Flight From Kabul—Her Sister Didn’t
She went on: “I'm trying to control myself to not cry, but it is actually really hard for everyone. People are calling us telling us that my brother was a good man. He was really kind. It's sad for everyone that knows him.”
Days later, the surviving family said the Taliban came to Aryo's house. Meena claims they demanded the family sign a letter absolving the Taliban of any fault for the young father’s death and sign off on his death certificate that he died of natural causes. She said the letter is the regime’s way to “hide their crimes.”
Thousands across Afghanistan “are suffering at every angle at the hands of the Taliban, there is no way of life,” Aryo’s other sister, Nadia, told The Daily Beast. “People are afraid to leave their homes. I hope this stops happening… [but] It won’t help me. It won’t give me my brother back or his children their father back.”
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