Saeeq Shajjan was staring down the barrel of an AK-47. At the other end was a Taliban militant trying to threaten Shajjan away from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the only way out of Afghanistan for Shajjan’s family. His three children sat feet away in another car.

“No, you cannot shoot me,” Shajjan boldly told the man, grinning.