American reporter was rescued by British troops after US soldiers were banned from leaving the international airport in Kabul.
As President Biden confirmed on Friday, US troops stationed in the Hamid Karzai International Airport were ordered not to leave the security perimeter at the airport to avoid getting into a confrontation with the enemy.
“The reason why we have not gone out—it’s likely to draw a lot of unintended consequences,” Biden said.
Meanwhile, however, French and British allies began sending troops into the Taliban-occupied capital to evacuate their citizens before a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
And thanks to their brave actions, Susannah George, an American reporter working for the Washington Post, and her team were rescued.
Stranded in the war-torn city, George and the Afghan team working for The Post had little hope of reaching the airport in time to flee the country.
Fortunately, however, unexpected help appeared when George spotted British troops who were on a rescue mission of their own at the time. After asking for help, George and the rest of the paper’s team were allowed to join the evacuation effort and were rushed to the airport in armored cars.
Though George offered little information about her rescuers, she recalled the time her co-worker, Tassal, and her young daughter got beaten by the Taliban while waiting outside the Kabul airport in an attempt to flee.
She also recalled the day her team was rescued by British troops as she revealed that they were hiding at a secure compound in the city when the soldiers arrived.
“Initially, the men were cautious about helping us. We weren’t part of their evacuation, and the officer said they needed sign-off from the U.S. Embassy. But after a few phone calls, they agreed to wave Tassal [George’s co-worker], another Washington Post employee and their families through the Taliban checkpoint,” George said.
After reuniting with her team, George was taken to the airport in armored vehicles accompanied by private security guards.
Fortunately, the evacuees were able to reach the airport without trouble since the road they traveled on was still secured by British troops at the time. According to the reports, George and the rest of The Post team escaped just in time, whereas the British troops planned to keep the road secured only until their rescue missions were complete.
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