Afghanistan: Trapped Nottingham family reach Dubai

A Nottinghamshire family who were trapped in Afghanistan have been flown out of Kabul on a military plane.

The mother, older daughter and two children, aged five and nine, had been in the country caring for sick relatives as Kabul fell.

Despite having correct documents they said the Taliban stopped them leaving.

The children's head teacher said they had seen "horror and violence" at the airport but had now flown to Dubai and were due in the UK within hours.

The family - who are not being named for security reasons - had been looking after relatives with coronavirus.

Speaking last week, the children's father Raghib - who remained in Nottinghamshire with other children - said they had been "so worried" about the rest of the family.

Mellers Primary School head teacher Amanda Dawson said: "I've just had a message from the elder daughter that they have landed in Dubai, which is wonderful."

Ms Dawson said she was alerted to the problem by another teacher.

"But I don't know what happened, something kicks in and I thought, 'I have to do something about this'.

"There's no handbook for teachers and what to do if you have a family trapped in a warzone - I just followed my instincts."

She said she contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood, who together sorted out the paperwork.

"Their situation was absolutely desperate, I think for two nights I didn't sleep," said Ms Dawson

"You have seen the images of the corral outside the airport - they were there for 32 hours, the kids slept overnight on the road.

"They were surrounded by that horror and violence and saw an uncle assaulted by the Taliban."

On Friday it was confirmed they had reach a British army-controlled safe house at the airport.

Ms Dawson said there were now fears though the extended family - who held senior positions in the government - were now in danger and efforts were being made to bring them out.

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