A pregnant woman from California, stranded in Afghanistan, has said that the Taliban is “hunting” Americans now that the U.S. military has been removed from the country.
The woman shared her experiences with Voice of America, where she was only identified by her first name, Nasria. She is one of almost 200 Americans still trapped in Afghanistan, according to The New York Post.
“There’s been days, you know, where I think to myself, ‘Am I going to make it home? Am I going to end up living here? Am I going to end up dying here?’” Nasria told VOA.
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The 25-year-old Californian went on to share that after the U.S. finished its withdrawal on Aug. 31, the Taliban started “hunting Americans.”
“Apparently, they’re going door to door now trying to see if anyone has a blue passport,” she told VOA.
In June, Nasria had traveled to the country to visit family and marry her Afghan national husband, but after the Taliban took over Kabul last month, she could not book a flight.
“It was so hard to just get on a flight,” Nasria said. “There was a couple days where we had to sleep on streets. People were literally stepping over people. That’s how bad it was.”
She went on to say that the scene outside Hamid Karzai International Airport was chaotic, with thousands of Afghans trying to escape the country as she attempted to get on a flight.
For days thousands gathered outside the gates of the airport in an attempt to get on a flight out of Afghanistan. Even after bombings left several dead, groups of people trying to flee the country continued to gather in attempts to flee.
Once all U.S. troops fully evacuated the airport, Taliban supporters fired their weapons into the sky in celebration.
In the following days, Taliban supporters held mock funerals for the U.S., NATO, and their allies, parading caskets throughout the street with their flags draped over them.
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When she eventually got in contact with the State Department, she was told to go to a specific area where they would be met and taken to a flight out of Afghanistan.
They came within moments of entering the airport; however, the Taliban intervened.
“Our troops were literally at the gate just waiting for us to continue walking, and they had blocked us,” Nasria said. She also shared that even after showing her passport, Taliban fighters would not allow her to enter.
“There was a time that like I went past them and started walking as fast as I can, and they started shooting right by my leg and told me to come back. If I was only 15 steps away from the airport, and I was told people are going to come out of the airport to get me. So what hope am I supposed to have now?” she said.
Nasria shared that her husband had begged the Taliban to let her leave the country alone, but she would not go without him.
“My child is going to need a father, and I’m going to need a husband by my side,” Nasria said.