Time was running out for Mohammad Khalid Wardak, a high-profile Afghan national police officer who spent years working alongside the American military.
Hunted by the Taliban, he was hiding with his family in Kabul, constantly moving from place to place as they tried and failed several times to reach a rendezvous point where they could be rescued.
After at least four attempts in as many days, the family finally was whisked away by helicopter Wednesday in a dramatic rescue called Operation Promise Kept carried out under cover of darkness by the U.S. military and its allies, said Robert McCreary, a former congressional chief of staff and White House official under President George W. Bush, who has worked with special forces in Afghanistan.
The rescue of Khalid, as he’s called by friends, came after frantic efforts by his supporters in the U.S. military, who said he was a brother in arms who helped save countless lives and faced certain death if found by the Taliban. They sought help from members of Congress and the Defense and State departments.
“I don’t think people understand the chaos that is reigning right now in the capital, the brutality and the efficient lethality the Taliban are using … to ensure their rise to power as they eliminate their greatest threat, which are these military and special police,” said U.S. Army Special Forces Sgt. Major Chris Green, who worked with Khalid in Afghanistan.
Khalid and his family were unable to get inside the airport where the Taliban controlled the entrances. He was widely known because of his position as police chief in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province and from television appearances, including one in which he challenged the Taliban to a fight, supporters said.
9Naija 