A Norwegian woman rescued from Afghanistan on an almost empty “mercy” plane has revealed her discouragement by leaving behind thousands of desperate locals, including a mother who begged her to carry her baby.
Kaisa Markhus, 30, told the Daily Mail it took four days to pass through the Taliban checkpoints and a mix of thousands outside Kabul airport before she could finally board a military plane, landing in Oslo. on Friday morning.
“There are thousands trying to get into the airport … a lot of scared people who just want to get out,” said Markhus, who was left with “sadness alone” when he boarded an almost empty plane.
“A woman tried to hand me her baby and said,‘ Please take my son, ’” said Markhus, the wife of a former British Royal Marine command.
“But I couldn’t, no matter how much I wanted to help. It just doesn’t work that way.
“She must be desperate to do this,” she said, recalling that she also witnessed similar frantic movements from other women.
“There were crying children, who had separated from their parents and at least three babies who must have been handed over to soldiers by their desperate mothers,” she told the Mail.
Markhus and her husband, former British soldier Paul “Pen” Farthing, were in Afghanistan running the Nowzad Lost Animal Sanctuary, which is backed by stars such as Ricky Gervais and Dame Judi Dench.
Eventually, she escaped with a pregnant American friend, who was not identified, while her husband stayed behind and vowed not to leave until the 25 staff members and their immediate families received the safe exit of the troubled nation, according to the medium.
While there, Farthing has been campaigning for British politicians to intervene in what he insists is “Humanitarian Disaster.”
Markhus said she and her friend were nearly trampled to death on Tuesday when thousands stormed the airport, with soldiers firing warning shots into the air. They also had to dodge Taliban troops abroad, staying in a safe house every night before returning there every day to try to escape.
When she finally got her way on Thursday, she was taken to a military plane and sat for hours waiting for more passengers, who never came because of the chaos outside, she said on departure.
“We waited for hours on the tarmac for people to pass. But in the end we had to take off, ”he said.
“I just had a feeling of sadness because the flight was so empty,” he said, with his plane arriving early in the morning in Georgia, where he took a commercial flight connecting to Oslo.
He said families are sleeping outside Kabul airport, apparently unaware that without proper documentation they are barred from leaving.
“It doesn’t get better, it just gets worse as people despair,” he said.