2 years ago
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NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A Long Island antheral precocious reunited with his woman and children aft they successfully fled Afghanistan was welcomed Wednesday by Congressman Tom Suozzi, who helped marque the evacuation possible.
Mohammad Wali, an American national who lives successful Plainview, had sought Suozzi's assistance to assistance get his woman Aishah and 3 children -- 1-year-old Yasir, 8-year-old Omar, and 6-year-old Zahra -- from Kabul aft the Taliban took power of the country.
"They gave maine a caller life," Mohammad Wali said. "I inactive don't judge that they are here."
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The evacuation took 12 days and progressive hundreds of calls, texts, WhatApp messages, and emails astatine each hours of the time and night.
"This household got peculiar attraction from my office, arsenic did others, due to the fact that determination were 2 children that were US citizens," Suozzi said. "We knew that we had to bash it erstwhile I spoke to them, and I was like, we person to marque this a priority."
It besides progressive the assistance and expertise of erstwhile US soldiers connected the crushed successful Afghanistan who worked connected logistics, including meetup times, prime up points, and an indispensable reddish bandanna.
"The children mislaid their shoes," Suozzi said. "The babe was crying, was blistery outside, they're getting dehydrated, and they had to spell location due to the fact that they couldn't instrumentality it anymore. And erstwhile helium told maine that story, I was like, we person to find idiosyncratic connected the ground."
After immoderate harrowing days and nights, Wali's household was safely evacuated with the assistance of Suozzi, his staff, and the extracurricular radical Allied Airlift.
"For 12 days consecutive and astatine each hours of the time and night, we were successful changeless interaction with them," Suozzi said. "We recovered the astonishing Adam DeMarco, who had a squad connected the crushed successful Kabul and, moving together, we did not springiness up until we got them safely home. Without the enactment of my fantastic staff, the State Department, US military, and Allied Airlift, the harmless evacuation of the Wali household would person not been possible."
The squad arranged a circumstantial meetup spot extracurricular the airdrome successful Kabul, and the household was instructed to spot the bandanna connected the youngest kid and clasp him up precocious truthful they would beryllium recognized.
"It's done the combined efforts of Representative Tom Suozzi, his unit and the dedicated volunteers of Allied Airlift that we were capable to safely unafraid and past evacuate the Wali household from what was a chaotic, volatile, and harrowing situation," DeMarco said. "While there's inactive enactment to bash and the ngo is not over, we tin each instrumentality solace successful knowing that the Wali household is reunited and harmless successful the United States due to the fact that of the enactment of Congressman Suozzi and a squad of selfless patriots."
After flying to Qatar and past Ramstein Air Base successful Germany, the Wali household was reunited successful the United States precocious past week, 2 weeks aft archetypal reaching retired to Suozzi's office.
"There were truthful galore checkpoints, and nary 1 tin let you to spell there," Mohammad Wali said. "But done the assistance of Mr Tom, they got done galore checkpoints."
The reunion took spot astatine Ariana, an Afghan edifice connected Ninth Avenue successful Hell's Kitchen that Wali owns and operates.
Suozzi admits determination are galore different families hopeless for help, and helium said helium and different members of Congress are hoping for much occurrence stories -- but helium admits that's becoming progressively difficult.
"There's truthful galore stories progressive with truthful galore antithetic families," Suozzi said. "And we person to conscionable effort and bash the champion we tin and conscionable support connected plowing through."
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