has caused panic and confusion for thousands of british citizens trying to return home, but it s also had a devastating impact on afghan families settled in the uk, desperate to help loved ones who they believe are stuck in limbo. our special correspondent ed thomas has been speaking to people here and in kabul. is he 0k, can he talk to us? right now, we re scared and we can t talk properly. and what should we do over here? they are going to kill us. we don t want that. the phone calls to kabul. the anguish, uncertainty of what comes next. inside, ifeel like i am broken into many pieces. my body is here, my soul is in afghanistan. and so is the rest of her family uncles, aunties, in laws. most of them work for the afghan government or western forces. this is the picture of the taliban they have taken secretly, my brother in law. we blurred these images not to reveal the family home. so this is them in the house. this is the taliban. they want a female member of ourfamily.
but we ve heard nothing. what do you think is going to happen to your family? they will get killed, they will get killed. 100% they will get killed. if i leave them and something happens to them, i ll never be able to forgive myself. from manchester to kabul. it s extremely difficult, if not impossible. is that gunfire behind you? that s right. it s not so bad now, actually, at night it was really bad. this is sher shah a british citizen hiding in kabul with young children and elderly parents. my father is in his 80s, my mother s elderly and ill and frail. they cannot survive without me. a family isolated, with decisions to make. going to the airport with young children is extremely difficult, if not impossible. the four gates to kabul airport are blocked by thousands of people. i really wonder how many of them are genuine. documents are being faked all over the place, and i wouldn t be surprised if some people manage to get onto the flights to the uk with fake documents. but there a
from manchester to kabul. it s extremely difficult, if not impossible. is that gunfire behind you? that s right. it s not so bad now, actually. at night, it was really bad. this is sher shah, a british citizen hiding in kabul with young children and elderly parents. my father is in his 80s, my mother is elderly and ill and frail. i can send you pictures. they cannot survive without me. a family isolated, with decisions to make. going to the airport with young children is extremely difficult, if not impossible. the four gates to kabul airport are mobbed by thousands of people. i really wonder how many of them are genuine and how many are opportunists. documents are being faked all over the place. at the cost of a few pounds. i wouldn t be surprised if some people managed to get onto flights to the uk with fake documents. but there are lucky ones. officially flown out of kabul, now in quarantine. the kids are sleeping in another room. this is amazing. khasrow is thankful, safe and alive
preventing people where we were, but they re clearly frustrated with the scenes unfolding. with time running out, there s a sense of panic amongst those trying to escape. many worry they ll be left behind, like this former british army interpreter who is yet to receive a response to his application. it s very dangerous for us, because from the day the taliban entered kabul, i ve changed my home three times, so we are just two days, two nights we are living in one place. he s only got one document from the british army, and it doesn t even say who signed it. but we managed to find his former boss, now a retired soldier in the north of england. i absolutely remember him as one of about eight interpreters i worked with out in afghanistan on my tour, and like all of the others that i worked with, he was a brave, bright, intelligent lad who actually genuinely wanted to
the goverment says it will use every hour that s left to evacuate as many people as it can from afghanistan. with thousands still desperate to leave kabul airport, president biden refuses to extend the deadline beyond next tuesday. the sooner we can finish, the better. each day of operations brings added risk to our troops. troops will have to pull out in advance of the deadline, making it a race against time to get more civilians out. what we will to do is use every remaining hour and day to get our nationals, such as we can, the afghans who work for us, out. already the afghans who work for us, out. getting scholars rights already getting scholars and women s rights defenders out.