Afghan refugees share stories of survival as they arrive at Dulles Airport
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - Thousands of people are continuing to arrive in the United States from Afghanistan As of 7:00 a.m. Friday, 14,000 people arrived at Dulles Airport from Afghanistan within the last two weeks.
FOX 5 spoke with one refugee Friday who says he was stabbed by members of the Taliban before boarding his plane.
"[The] Taliban attacked with [a] knife right here," he said, pointing to one of his injuries. "All people go to [the] airport to escape [the] country but [they] knife attacked me," he told FOX 5 reporter Natalie Rubino.
The man said he was a journalist in Afghanistan. Bloody stab wounds were left on his body after he was attacked at Kabul airport. He bravely shared his story, saying he’s grateful to be in the U.S.
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"Thank you to [the] USA for always helping my country and my people," he said.
That man tells FOX 5 he has no idea where he will go now that he is here, but he will try to get the rest of his family out of Kabul.
Despite what he went through, he is one of the lucky ones. One local woman says three of her family members were killed in Thursday’s explosions just before boarding their flight. She said they had their clearance papers in hand ready to board when they were killed. Now a family is torn apart.
"The head of the household that passed away was able to send half of the family members to the other side. He got them on airport ground and they were greeted by the U.S. troops then he went back to get his other two sons and that’s when they became victims," she said. "These are individuals that supported NATO allies and the U.S. so these are individuals that were qualified to come by programs set in place by our nation. The individual that passed was a doctor," she added.
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The woman, who asked that we not use her name, said when she heard of the death of her family members she was in shock.
"I was numb. Ask any Afghan, ask anybody, I think people are living through a rollercoaster of emotion. It made me sick to my stomach. I think it’s the worst thing that can happen. I think we just have to get out as many other people that we can," she said.
The woman still has several other family members she’s trying to get out of Afghanistan, but after yesterday’s attack, many of them are in a situation where they’re now terrified to try to leave but also terrified to stay.
"What you see there is people at their most desperate state of life and I think that, unfortunately, with these attacks that are happening it’s getting worse by the minute."
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She told FOX 5 that despite what happened to her family, she’s grateful for everything the administration and U.S. military are doing.
"I’m grateful and I’m thankful for the work that the troops are doing, that the administration is doing at these last hours. They are still trying to keep the operation going. I am happy about that. I am hopeful," she said.
Now, people in the U.S., especially in Virginia, are working hard to help every Afghan who arrives.
Once immigrants and refugees arrive at Dulles they are taken to military bases in Virginia to complete processing and those who need assistance are given it.