A baby handed over to a US soldier during the chaotic situation in Afghanistan when the Taliban took power has been found and reunited with his relatives.
The baby, Sohail Ahmadi, was just two months old when he disappeared on August 19, as thousands of people rushed to leave Afghanistan.
Following the story published by Reuters in November, the baby was found in Kabul. A 29-year-old taxi driver named Hamid Safi had found him at the airport and taken him home to raise him as his child. After more than seven weeks of negotiations, Safi handed over the child to his grandfather and other relatives who are in Kabul. They said they would seek to reunite him with parents and siblings who left the US months ago.
During the riots in Afghanistan, Mirza Ali Ahmadi - the boy's father, who worked as a security guard at the US embassy - and his wife, Suraya, feared their son would be crushed by the crowd as they approached airport.
Mirza Ali Ahmadi said in early November that in despair over the situation and in panic over family life, he handed the boy over to a uniformed soldier whom he believed was American thinking he would pick it up after walking 5 meters that had remained. At that moment, Taliban forces pushed the crowd back. It took 30 minutes for Ahmadi, his wife and four other children to get inside. But then, the child was not found.
Ahmadi said he searched for the boy inside the airport and officials told him he could have been taken out of the country separately and could be reunited with them later. The rest of the family left and settled in Texas. For months they had no idea where the baby was.
Në të njëjtën ditë që Ahmadi dhe familja u ndanë nga djali 2-muajsh, Safi kishte rastisur afër aeroportit pasi kishte çuar vëllain dhe familjen e tij, të cilët gjithashtu kishin vendosur të largoheshin. Ai tha se tha se e gjeti Sohail-in vetëm dhe duke qarë në tokë. Pasi u përpoq pa sukses të gjente prindërit e foshnjës, ai vendosi ta çonte në shtëpi te gruaja dhe fëmijët.
Safi ka tre vajza dhe tha se dëshira më e madhe e nënës së tij para se të vdiste ishte që ai të kishte një djalë. Ata e quajtën foshnjën Mohammad Abed dhe postuan foto të të gjithë fëmijëve së bashku në faqen në Facebook.
Pasi qarkulloi nëpër media historia e djalit të zhdukur, disa nga fqinjët e Safit – të cilët e kishin vënë re kthimin e tij nga aeroporti muaj më parë me një fëmijë – i njohën fotot. Ahmadi u kërkoi të afërmve në Afganistan që të kërkonin djalin.
In the presence of the police and after much talking, Safi decided to return the baby to relatives.
Ahmadi, his wife and other children, who already live in an apartment in Michigan, hope Sohail will be sent to the US soon. "We have to return the child to the mother and father. "This is my only responsibility," said his grandfather. "My wish is for him to go to them."
Sources: Reuters, Guardian
