Afghan journalists, with ties to CSC, escape Kabul

For 10 days Zubair Babakarkhail lived in a constant state of chaos.  

After the Taliban took over Afghanistan on Aug. 15, Babakarhail’s life became consumed with trying to escape the country. His days were filled with panic, his nights sleepless, as he, his wife and their children waited for a call that would get them through the gates at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

“There were at least three nights that my kids slept with their shoes on, having their jackets on in case we get a call, and we were in a rush and needed to save time,” he said. “Twice, we missed a bus which was supposed to take us to the airport. We waited for days and nights in front of the gates of the airport to get in. We didn’t have proper meals, we didn’t have proper sleep, everything was chaos.” 

Babakarkhail, an Afghan journalist who has worked for Stars and Stripes since 2012, has reported for various media agencies in Afghanistan since 2002.  Until 2006, he covered Afghan politics for Kabul-based Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN) alongside Hamim Kakar, another Afghan journalist.

Both men are good friends with CSC journalism instructor and The Eagle adviser, Michael D. Kennedy. Babakarkhail and Kennedy worked together on three occasions, twice in 2002, and a third time in 2005.  Through Babakarkhail, Kennedy met Kakar. Five years later, in spring 2010, Kennedy invited Kakar to CSC to serve as a featured speaker at the Nebraska Collegiate Media Association’s annual conference, hosted by The Eagle. 

Kakar was also part of the chaotic U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan, but details about how he escaped are unknown. Still, The Eagle confirmed he and his family arrived safely in the U.S. 

“I was eating breakfast with a couple of students at a local restaurant, when I got the call they were out,” Kennedy said. “I was so excited I nearly jumped out of my chair. I made such a ruckus, I embarrassed the students sitting with me.” 

Babakarkhail said he wasn’t surprised when the United States announced its departure after occupying Afghanistan for the past 20 years. But evaluating the situation, he said there needed to be better planning to ensure the country would stay self-sufficient. He said he had hoped that there would be some kind of peace deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban that would keep people safe as they adjusted to the shift.

But that wasn’t case.

“There were problems in the (Afghan) government, in the state, and things were not going well,” Babakarkhail said. “There was going to be trouble. There was no peace in Afghanistan. No peace made between the government and the Taliban. Everyone thought there should be a peace deal before the Americans leave, which could guard the long-term security and peace in Afghanistan. But, without any agreement and the will of the Afghans, a situation came that no one wanted.” 

Because of his work with the U.S. and Japan, it became imperative that Babakarkhail and his family leave Afghanistan before the U.S. finalized its evacuation. However, he said it was impossible to do in those first 10 days of the evacuation because of the thousands of U.S. troops and Afghan citizens that were also trying to leave.

“You start a countdown that the evacuation is going to stop on Aug. 30, and you are making efforts to get out, but you cannot get it,” he said. “You definitely become more disappointed, more frustrated and more helpless.” 

On Aug. 24, Babakarkhail and his family finally made it into the Kabul airport and aboard a U.S.-bound plane.  

“It was like when you plant a garden,” he said. “You try to have good yield from it and you work days and nights to have that outcome and then finally you have it. It was like that. You are so happy. We immediately forgot about being tired when the U.S. Marines helped us to get in. And we were so happy and excited and joyful that after all this nightmare we finally made it and we will have a much better life.” 

This isn’t the first time, Babakarkhail has fled Afghanistan. Somewhere between the ages of 3 and 5, he wasn’t really sure, he said that his family left Kabul and moved to Pakistan during the Russian invasion of the early 1980s. He had only moved back after the U.S. moved on the Taliban after 9/11. 

“This is the second time I’ve become a refugee or migrated from my country,” he said. “I was forced to flee my country, so it was a really hard time.” 

Now that he is stateside, Babakarkhail said he plans to make a life here. He said he has nothing but gratitude and thanks for the friends and coworkers who helped him safely escape. But he also said he still hopes to one day return to his home country and visit the family he left behind. 

“We have a family out there,” he said. “I left everything behind. My house, my property, my brothers and sisters and (extended) family. I would love to go back and see everyone once in a while. But only if the situation supports us. Like, there is no concern, there is no threat, (and) the Taliban are treating everyone similarly.”