In a four-episode podcast and a series of dispatches, Afghans forced into exile when the U.S.-backed government fell to the Taliban in August 2021 recount tales of migration and seek accountability for the collapse of the Afghan security forces. The product of a unique collaboration between The Intercept and New America, these stories illuminate the dark end of America’s longest war.
“No Way Home” tells the story of last summer’s perilous exodus brought on by two decades of broken promises in the U.S. war on terror. Over four episodes, New America’s Afghanistan Observatory Scholars tell both their own stories and those of other Afghans who tried to leave when the U.S. military pulled out of Afghanistan a year ago. These stories seek to give a voice to just a few of the millions whose lives were upended last year.
In this introductory essay, Summia Tora, Mir Abdullah Miri, and Maryam Barak detail their experiences as Afghans living in exile and the accounts of others who tried to leave Afghanistan when the U.S. military pulled out one year ago.
Summia Tora, an Afghan human rights advocate, talks about her parallel efforts to evacuate her father and a longtime NGO worker named Hamid, his pregnant wife, and their young daughter, as a suicide bomber stalked the Kabul airport.
Mir Abdullah Miri, an educational researcher now living in the U.K., investigates a family tragedy set against the backdrop of last summer’s exodus, when his cousin Aziz, a cellphone programmer, decided to cross into Iran on foot with his wife and two young children, hoping to reach relatives in Germany.
Maryam Barak, an Afghan journalist who was evacuated to Italy, tells the story of Qader Kazimizada, another newly arrived Afghan who has healed by helping other refugees find community in an alien place.
Summia Tora tells the story of Hamid and his family’s year of hiding in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and a surprise, last-minute opportunity to escape.
Published by The Intercept and New America, a short series of articles from scholars and storytellers explore different facets of Taliban takeover.
In this brief for New America, Qayoom Suroush explores the U.S. and the Taliban's efforts to fix Afghanistan’s informal banking system.
In this dispatch for The Intercept, Humaira Rahbin and Candace Rondeaux share the story of an Afghan pilot who was forced to choose between his family and his country when the Taliban took Kabul.
In this dispatch for The Intercept, Elyas Nawandish documents the collapse of Afghanistan's government through the perspective of Asadullah Akbari, a colonel in the Afghan National Army now living in the U.S. Additional reporting from Murtaza Hussain.
The Afghanistan Observatory initiative is a collaboration between Future Frontlines and the Fellows Program at New America. Meet its Scholars and learn more about our collaboration with The Intercept.