KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Mohammed Jan Sultani had grabbed his national Taekwondo Championship certificates as he passed through crowds pushing to reach Kabul airport late last week.
The 25-year-old athlete was not on any evacuation list. Still, he hoped his successes would make him and his young family special enough to let them in the door and on one of the flights rescuing foreigners and Afghans fleeing the Taliban.
As he advanced, a suicide bomber from the Islamic State detonated two dozen pounds of explosives in the crowd just before Thursday night, killing 169 Afghans, including Sultani, and 13 members of the U.S. service.
His wife and two children, 4-year-old Zahid and 2-year-old Zahra, survived; he had told them to stay a little behind as he advanced toward the door.
Three days later, Zahid is still in shock. He cries, but does not speak.
The athlete’s father, Ali, said his son was expecting a bleak future under the Taliban.
“I didn’t know where I would go,” the grieving man, who bears the surname Rahmani, said on Sunday. “In the United States, Europe, it didn’t matter,” Rahmani said, holding up some of his son’s medals, his voice tied with sadness.
“Everyone in the country seemed to be escaping,” he said.
Najma Sadeqi was also among those trying to get out that afternoon. The 20-year-old, who was in her final semester in journalism school, feared that the Taliban’s return to power would bring a harsh version of Islamic rule in which women would be largely confined to their homes.
Going through these airport gates had the promise of racing elsewhere, away from all threats and criteria.
Thursday’s blast killed Najma, as well as her brother and a cousin who had escorted her to the airport to ensure her safety.
Najma had started journalism with a YouTube channel a few years ago and eventually went to work for a couple of private broadcasters, her older sister, Freshta, said.
In the two decades since the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban from power, women have made gains in education, politics and business, but it has not been easy. Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative country, especially outside urban areas. Many of Najma’s own relatives opposed her nascent career, some even cut off contact.
Freshta said her sister received threatening phone calls and text messages from unknown men who objected to her appearing in public.
“I was the only one who said about his safety concerns,” Freshta said. “I didn’t want to share it with the family because they could stop him from working with the media.”
But as the Taliban advanced rapidly, capturing most of the country in a matter of days and entering the capital earlier this month, Najma decided to join the exodus, fearing that taking control would mean the end of a career that was just beginning. She collected the threatening text messages and took them to the airport, hoping they would help her convince the Americans to get her on the plane.
Najma planned to restart her YouTube channel from her new home, wherever she was, and document the lives of Afghan migrants, Freshta said. “He dreamed of building a career in the media despite the challenges he faced.”
Najma and tens of thousands of other people outside the airport gate have not been influenced by the Taliban’s promises to allow women in public life and girls to attend schools.
Ali Reza Ahmadi, a 34-year-old who had worked as a journalist for almost a decade, was so desperate to leave that he went to the airport a few months after committing himself. He and his younger brother, who were hoping to travel with him, were killed, according to Khadim Karimi, a close friend and colleague.
He said Ahmadi was already struggling with depression and financial problems before the Taliban entered. “He was so anxious, so he decided to go to the airport and stay there until he could get a country air bridge to take him,” Karimi said. .
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Faiez reported from Istanbul.