The Afghan interpreter who helped save President Joe Biden when he was among a group of senators stranded in a remote Afghan valley has now safely left the country.
Aman Khalili, his wife, and his children were able to make it out of Afghanistan on Oct. 5 after weeks of unsuccessful attempts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Khalili, who had worked with U.S. forces in Afghanistan since shortly after the ouster of the Taliban two decades ago, and his family were sneaked out of the country via vehicle by crossing into Pakistan. They then boarded a flight to Doha, Qatar.
Brian Genthe, a combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient with the Arizona National Guard who worked with Khalili in Afghanistan, was one of the leaders in the effort, pushed mainly by veterans, to get his family out of Afghanistan.
“Aman helped keep me and other Americans safe while we were fighting in Afghanistan, and we wanted to return the favor,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “He’s a blessing.”
Khalili and his family had tried to leave the country during the final weeks of the military evacuation in August, but they were unsuccessful because U.S. soldiers would not grant his family members permission to enter the airport grounds to get on a flight.
The Human First Coalition, an organization looking to protect U.S. citizens and allies who were left behind when the U.S. and NATO forces departed at the end of August, moved Khalili and his family from Mazar-e-Sharif to Kabul, before taking them to the Helmand province, according to the Military Times. From there, they were able to slip into Pakistan before getting on a flight to Doha.
The organization, made up of volunteers, helped evacuate 6,000 people out of Afghanistan, including roughly 1,000 Americans, prior to the Aug. 31 withdrawal date, Alex Plitsas, a spokesman for the group, told the Washington Examiner. Since then, it’s turned its attention to supporting “extremely high-risk individuals and make sure that they’re safe from any physical harm that may come to them, given who they are,” he explained.
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Khalili was a member of the rescue team sent to help Biden and fellow Sens. John Kerry and Chuck Hagel, who had been forced to land in an Afghan valley due to inclement weather, leaving them vulnerable to an attack from the Taliban.
Khalili’s inability to get himself and his family out of Afghanistan before the troops’ departure garnered national attention. On Aug. 31, the day the troops left, the Wall Street Journal published a piece from him asking the president to “save me and my family” and not to “forget me here.”
