What one Afghan went through to be in Bloomington, from dead dog to wading through sewage

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story noted that Mohammad's wife was held against her will for a few days. She was actually forcibly held for more than two months.

"Hey Dad, what's that?"

Wedged inside the taxi cab's passenger seat, Mohammad turned to look at his son. It took him a moment to realize his child was staring at the long AK-47 rifle at the taxi driver's side.

"It's just a toy," Mohammad assured, even as his stomach dropped.

It was only after Mohammad and his family got into the taxi headed for the airport that the driver identified himself as a member of the Taliban.

"We're very happy we came to this country and now we are going to rule," the driver told them with a smile.

With those words rattling inside his head, Mohammad could only remember thinking one thing: "I'm a wanted guy. He's going to kill me."

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Before the 2021 Taliban offensive, Mohammad lived peacefully in Kabul, Afghanistan. He split his time working at two companies, one as the operations manager and another as the finance director. When he wasn't working, he spent time with his family, including his wife, four sons and a loyal German shepherd.

"It was a wonderful life, but suddenly, everything collapsed," Mohammad told The Herald-Times.

According to Mohammad, nobody in his generation really expected the Taliban — an Islamic fundamentalist, militant group that is widely considered a terrorist organization — to return to Afghanistan.

"Everybody was saying that maybe if the older people don't stand up, the new generation will stand up against (the Taliban)," Mohammad said.

But then the United States withdrew American troops from Afghanistan. And the republic's own president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country.

Mohammad had been left in charge of one company, a branch of Life of Excellence, when the news broke about Ghani's escape. He was instructed by the director and CEO of the company to dismiss everyone from work that day.

As Mohammad informed the workforce, he saw many female employees breaking down into tears. People were shocked, unable to understand what this might mean for their lives.

But Mohammad knew all too well what it might mean for him. Even before the group had taken hold of Afghanistan, members of the Taliban had targeted and threatened Mohammad's life because he worked with Western companies. The Taliban falsely portrayed him as an "infidel."

In the past, Mohammad had received warnings from the Taliban, but he always ignored them. Once, while Mohammad was away, Taliban members showed up at his door. As his family hid, their German shepherd began barking outside. Mohammad came home to find his dog on the doorstep, shot in the head, the residue from a chemical spray around the animal's mouth.

Once the Taliban took control, Mohammad knew nothing could stop the extremist group from killing the human members of his family.

As he left work to return home the day the president fled, Mohammad noticed cars flooding the streets. While his typical commute would be about 10 minutes, the 3-mile distance took two hours.

The next day, it was the opposite. Mohammad said it seemed like a funeral was happening across the country.

"Everybody was quiet. No restaurants, no clubs, no gyms, nothing. Everything was just shut down. Animals (were) walking on the street. Everywhere, (people) were scared and hiding themselves at home," Mohammad said.

When Mohammad tried to return to work, the building security guards warned the Taliban had already come looking for him. Mohammad later spoke with his wife, who agreed they had to leave the country.

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Leaving wasn't easy, Mohammad quickly discovered. For the next few days, he stayed hidden while trying to make arrangements to evacuate.

Earlier, his wife had been forcibly taken by her brothers, who were from a strict Muslim family that did not approve of Mohammad. When his wife tried to escape, they beat her with wires. She was held there against her will for more than two months.

When Mohammad believed he finally had clearance, he called his wife to meet up with him. He and his family piled into a taxi, and found the driver was a member of the Taliban.

Mohammad thought quickly, saying the family were just visiting friends in that area.

Earlier, Mohammad had received the locations of each checkpoint — where members of the Taliban would search for travel documents —along their route. He'd planned to get out of the taxi before each checkpoint, hoping his family could ride through them without any suspicion. After the checkpoints, he planned to get back in the car.

His plan dissolved once he realized the driver was a member of the Taliban.

"I texted my friend and I said, 'This will be the first and the last text that I'm going to send you. I may be alive or I may die. I don't know where he's going to take me,'" Mohammad said.

But luck was on their side. Because the driver was visibly a member of the Taliban, they were able to breeze by the checkpoints without being searched. Mohammad and his family were dropped off near the airport, where thousands of people flooded the street.

Mohammad had to show his information to American soldiers before he and his family could get on an aircraft. He instructed his wife and children to stay in the crowd while he ran to reach the soldiers. Mohammad waded through the nearby river, which was permeated with sewage. As he walked, underwater barbed wire snagged at his feet.

The three-day nightmare soon came to an end when he and his family boarded the plane. After a few international stops, they ended up in a refugee camp in New Jersey with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.

Mohammad was later told everything they had left in Afghanistan, such as their house and cars, was taken by the Taliban. Family mementos — his school certificates, their wedding photos — were destroyed.

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Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees have moved to the U.S., spreading out across various states. Mohammad chose Bloomington as his destination after hearing positive things from a friend who had just relocated here.

Mohammad immigrated to Bloomington with the help of Exodus Refugee Immigration, a nonprofit resettlement agency based in Indianapolis. The organization recently established a Bloomington office, with local resident Erin Aquino acting as the resettlement director.

Aquino said while each refugee's experience is unique and harrowing, they typically share some similarities — being harassed, forced to lie about their identity, going through multiple obstacles and checkpoints during evacuation.

"This is true for many, many, many refugees all over the world, unfortunately," Aquino said.

Resettlement agency helps Afghan refugees in Indiana

Exodus has helped 32 Afghans settle in Bloomington. Exodus assists in finding a house, fully furnished and stocked with food, for each family to live in. The nonprofit temporarily covers expenses while the refugees look for employment. Exodus also hosts educational courses such as employment training and cultural orientation.

"We orient people to their home. (Some) families like Mohammad's understand a lot of what's in the home, but we get some families who've never used a stove and oven before," Aquino explained.

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The Afghan resettlement initiative was unique in Exodus' 40-year history.

"The average length of stay in a refugee camp is 17 years, so the process with which we got so many Afghans out of Afghanistan and then resettled through an agency like ours is pretty rare," Aquino noted.

After living in Bloomington for the past few months, Mohammad is still adjusting to his new life. He continues to search for employment as well as a way to fund an education at Indiana University. Mohammad is taking it one step at a time, starting with obtaining a U.S. driver's license.

He and his wife are also expecting another child, the first of theirs to be born in America.

"One day, we decided that that life (in Afghanistan) is completely gone. It is washed out. This is a new life. We've started from zero," Mohammad said. "Let's plan to be here, educate our children, and let them grow in this society and gain something out of this country and serve this country."

He hopes that one of his children will serve in the United States military, noting how American soldiers were instrumental in helping him and his family survive.

Mohammad also credits Exodus with helping them settle into their new lives in Bloomington.

"I want to really thank Exodus for what they are providing for me and for all Afghans that they're serving. We really appreciate it."

While the Exodus' Bloomington office will soon expand to have more staff members beyond Aquino, she said community help was crucial during those first few months of the Afghan evacuation and resettlement.

"How we were able to serve Afghans before we had staff was through the efforts of our volunteers and the welcoming community that Bloomington has been. We're so grateful for that," Aquino said. "Because of that, we're going to be able to grow and diversify our community here in Bloomington. I just think that's a really beautiful thing."

Contact Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com or @RachelSmithNews on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Local Afghan escapes Taliban, resettles in Bloomington