Two-Month-Old Baby Handed to US Soldiers in Chaos of Afghanistan Airlift Nowhere to be Found
© REUTERS / AHMADI FAMILY
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In a pulse-pounding moment, fearing their two-month old baby Sohail would get crushed in the chaotic crowd outside the gates of the Kabul airport on August 19, Mirza Ali Ahmadi and his wife Suraya desperately handed him over to a US soldier as they made their way in — once inside, Sohail was nowhere to be found.
Ahmadi and Suraya, along with their five children, found themselves outside the gates of Kabul airport in Afghanistan, as thousands of Afghans attempted to flee from the newly Taliban-controlled country when they were suddenly approached by a US soldier from over a tall fence that asked if they needed assistance.
Feeling hopeful that they would soon get to the entrance, which was only about 16 feet (5 meters) away, they handed their two-month old baby to the soldier without hesitation.
But at that moment, Mirza Ali said, the Taliban — which had swiftly taken over the country as US troops withdrew in August— “began pushing back hundreds of hopeful evacuees.”
After half an hour of scuffling through the crowd, the family was able to make it to the other side of the airport fence, where they were faced with every parent’s worst nightmare: their newborn baby Sohail was nowhere to be found.
Ali, who worked as a security guard at the US embassy for 10 years, began desperately asking every official he encountered about his baby's whereabouts.
Sohail Ahmadi, around two-months-old, is seen in these handout pictures shown on a poster, taken in August 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Sohail's parents Mirza Ali and his wife Suraya handed him over the fence to a U.S. soldier on August 19, 2021 in the chaos following the U.S. troop withdrawal and hasty evacuation at the Kabul Airport. But by the time the family got to the other side of the fence, the baby was no where to be found.
© REUTERS / AHMADI FAMILY
Military commanders told Ali the airport was too dangerous for a baby and that he might have been taken to a specific area for children. The area that was mentioned, however, ended up being empty.
"He walked with me all around the airport to search everywhere," Ali reportedly said in an interview, referring to the commander that assisted him, according to Reuters.
Three dreadful days went by for the Amahdis and still no sign of their son.
"I spoke to maybe more than 20 people," Ali said. "Every officer - military or civilian - I came across, I was asking about my baby."
Civilian officials told Ali that the Sohail could have been evacuated since they lacked resources to keep the baby there.
The family, who was initially placed in an evacuation flight to Qatar, is now at Fort Bliss in Texas with other Afghan refugees waiting to be resettled somewhere in the United States. Suraya said she cries most of the time, and that her other children are distraught.
"All I am doing is thinking about my child," Suraya said. "Everyone that is calling me, my mother, my father, my sister, they all comfort me and say ‘don't worry, God is kind, your son will be found.’”
Ali mentioned witnessing other families handing over their babies over the Kabul airport fence to soldiers at the same time.
A baby that was pictured being handed to a US soldier over a razor-wire fence amid the chaos in Kabul following the Taliban takeover has been safely reunited with their father, according to the US Marine Corps, who confirmed the “baby was immediately taken to a medical treatment facility on site and cared for [by] medical professionals” before being reunited with her parents.
The baby in this photo has been reunited with its father, per Marine Corps spox Maj. Jim Stenger.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) August 20, 2021
"I can confirm the baby was reunited with their father and is safe at the airport. This is a true example of the professionalism of the Marines on site ..." https://t.co/EhCvHXT9MF
Since the baby went missing, days have become a blur to Ali. Every person that he encounters — from aid workers to US officials — he doesn’t miss a chance to tell them about Sohail.
"Everyone promises they will do their best, but they are just promises," Ali added.
A “missing baby” flyer with Sohail’s picture, created by an Afghan refugee support group, is circulating the web in the hopes that someone will recognize him and report his whereabouts to his parents.
The case had been flagged by all the agencies involved, including the US bases and overseas locations.
The child was last seen being handed to a US soldier during the chaos at the Kabul airport, but "unfortunately no one can find the child," a US government official familiar with the situation said.
