A baby boy who was handed to a U.S. Marine over a razor wired fence at the Kabul airport as thousands attempted to evacuate Afghanistan has been found and reunited with his family.
The infant, Sohail Ahmadi, was discovered after being taken in and cared for by a 29-year-old taxi driver, Hamid Safi, according to Reuters. Ahmadi was returned to family members in Kabul after over seven weeks of negotiations, which consisted of Safi being briefly detained by the Taliban police.
“I am keeping this baby,” Safi said he had decided in the moment. “If his family is found, I will give him to them. If not, I will raise him myself.”
A U.S. Marine was handed an infant boy on Aug. 17 by his mother and father, Mirza Ali and Suraya Ahmadi, in an act of desperation. The couple had feared their 2-month-old infant would get crushed in the crowd.
The couple told the outlet that they had handed their son over to the Marine with the belief that it wouldn’t take long for them to be reunited with him.
Safi, who has three daughters, discovered Ahmadi crying on the ground on the other side of the wall. After initially trying to reunite the baby with his parents, he vowed to take the baby in and raise it as his own, renaming the baby Mohammad Abed.
Reuters posted an initial story about the missing infant back in November, with photos. After this story came out, several neighbors recognized the baby known as Mohammad.
The chaos & fear of people is a testament to the international community’s role in AFG’s downfall & their subsequent abandonment of Afghan people. The future for AFG has bn decided for its people without its people’s vote & now they live at the mercy of a terrorist group. #Kabul pic.twitter.com/k4bevc2eHE
— Omar Haidari (@OmarHaidari1) August 19, 2021
The Ahmadi called upon relatives still in the country for help, including the boy’s grandfather Mohammad Qasem Razawi. After a long, drawn-out process, in which help was sought from the Red Cross and the Taliban police, a settlement was reached.
Safi ended up receiving 100,000 in Afghani bills, or roughly $950 U.S. dollars, for any expenses that piled up while looking after the boy.
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After initially being evacuated to Fort Bliss Army Base in Texas, the Ahmadis have now resettled in Michigan, according to the outlet. The family hopes that their son will join them in the U.S. soon.
“We need to get the baby back to his mother and father,” the baby’s grandfather said. “This is my only responsibility. My wish is that he should return to them.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Defense and the State Department for a statement but did not receive a response.
