Taliban’s retake of Afghanistan sparks anguish among New Zealanders

Monday, 16 August 2021

Major Simon Strombom, Distinguished Service Decoration (retired) who served in Kabul, gives his thoughts on the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

The Taliban’s shock return to power in Afghanistan has sparked anguish among New Zealand’s refugee communities and the families of those who lost loved ones in the 20-year conflict.

President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul on Sunday after the Taliban took control of the country, declaring it the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Kiwis with loved ones in Kabul are pleading for help and Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said New Zealand Defence Forces (NZDF) will be deployed to support evacuations of about 50 New Zealanders in Afghanistan and Afghan allies.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, said a “massive intelligence failure” led New Zealand and allied governments to completely underestimate the Taliban’s strength.

* 'Utterly surreal and devastating': Former PM Helen Clark shellshocked to be 'back where we were' in Afghanistan as Taliban take over

* Jacinda Ardern has not ruled out sending Defence Force to Afghanistan to get New Zealanders out

Taliban fighters take control of the Afghan presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 15.

* Afghan journalist who worked on Government's Operation Burnham inquiry asks New Zealand for help

* Taliban enter Kabul as Afghanistan government collapses, president joins people in fleeing the country

* A better form of gun control: Get our troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq

The British 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment carry the casket of John (Jack) Howard out of the Cathedral during his funeral service at Wellington Cathedral after he was killed in 2010.

Clark visited Afghanistan both as prime minister and as head of the United Nations Development Programme. Watching the Taliban’s invasion was “utterly surreal and devastating for the country”.

Army veteran Kane Te Tai says the news will be a “tough pill to swallow” for many New Zealanders.

“It's just sad now to see the situation and think of so much blood and treasure that was spent, and we're back where we were,” she said.

She had no regrets about making the call to send New Zealand troops to Afghanistan in 2001, though the Provincial Reconstruction Team deployed to the Bamyan province was a commitment that “probably stayed on longer than New Zealand could sustain”.

Auckland-based interpreter Amin Bakhsh is desperate to get his wife and toddler back from Kabul, and has offered to go himself and help any local operation to extract New Zealand citizens.

Anita Azizi fears for the wellbeing of her relatives and friends still in Afghanistan.

“There are no flights in and out … I don’t know what is going to happen to them.”

Private John Howard, known as Jack, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 aged 23, while serving with the British forces as a paratrooper in Nad 'Ali.

The Wellingtonian, who was a fourth generation soldier, was struck by friendly fire during a US jet strafing run, the practice of firing on ground targets from low-flying planes.

Christchurch couple Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi returned to Afghanistan in 2019 to help local people set up businesses.

His father, Roger Howard, said the removal of US troops from the war-torn country signalled an end to all his son fought for.

“Jack was fighting for the future of Afghanistan – and that future’s just gone down the gurgler.”

Kane Te Tai, who served in Afghanistan and co-founded veteran support charity No Duff, said he was sad to see what was happening.

The Aucklander’s friend, Lance Corporal Rory Malone, was killed in action aged 26 during the Battle of Baghak in August 2012.

He said the Taliban’s return to power would be a “tough pill to swallow” for the families of those killed in Afghanistan, but it did not mean New Zealand’s deployment of troops had gone to waste.

Anita Azizi moved to Auckland as a refugee in 2006.

Her father was killed by the Taliban and she feared for her family still in Kabul.

The 26-year-old, who lives in Mt Roskill, said it was the “darkest day” for Afghan New Zealanders.

“The fact that they might be married to someone five times their age or when they’re as young as 12, that boils my blood.

“A lot of them were saying goodbye to us because they didn’t know if this was the last conversation they would have with us or not.”

Cantabrians Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi were last in Afghanistan in late 2019, early 2020 to help 51 people establish their own micro businesses with a donation of equipment, such as a sewing machine and materials, providing a sustainable source of financial security.

They were now trying to contact the 51 recipients to check on their safety.

Bariz Shah said he felt “pretty sick” watching as Afghanistan's “capital city fell overnight, and the whole country over a week”.

Charity Save the Children said about 80,000 Afghan children had been displaced from their homes in the past two months.