“Some individuals may not be happy with me personally – but I actually tell them the country is similar to a mother and no one should betray this, ” says Mohammad Edris Momand.
He is among hardly any handpicked Afghan army pilots trained with the United States to defend their country in the yrs before it fell to the Taliban.
But when the Islamist fighters were ready to retake Kabul last year, he flipped his back in the allies and travelled to hand his helicopter to his previous enemies.
Your dog is thought to be the only pilot in the former Afghan military to have succeeded in doing so. “My aim was to protect an asset that belongs to Afghanistan, ” he told the BBC.
Mohammad Edris Momand
Momand joined the particular Afghan military in 2009 and left for your US to undergo a strenuous four-year instruction programme at the American Military Academy : known as West Stage.
He had been told that it costs as much as $6m (£4. 97m) to train the helicopter pilot in the US. Momand values that will opportunity and still cherishes the day he produced his first sortie – a type of army attack – in america.
“I had been very happy and thrilled. I could not believe such a day time would come in my living, ” he said.
It wasn’t till his training was over that he came back home and saw his family once again.
Initially, he has been deployed to Herat in western Afghanistan, where he flew Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters. A couple of years later he got another break.
“At the end of 2018, a small number of young pilots who else had studied the most recent air force technologies were selected in order to fly Black Hawk helicopters. From then on I used to be flying Black Hawks. ”
These types of military helicopters were used in supply and transport roles.
Mohammad Edris Momand.
For years the US and its allies poured tens of vast amounts of dollars into training and equipping the Afghan military in the wish it would be able to prevent the Taliban once foreign forces still left.
But that will hope turned into a pipe dream.
The Afghan army lost control of the country to the Taliban at an astonishing pace after President Biden gave a talk in April a year ago setting 11 Sept as the date the final US troops might leave the country.
Within July, as Afghanistan slipped into turmoil, the exit date had to be brought ahead to 31 Aug. But even that was overtaken by the quickness of the Taliban enhance.
On 6 August, the first provincial capital was captured by militants. One by one, various other cities and towns fell to the insurgents, before the group got Kabul without a fight on 15 Aug.
The Afghan military, trained and outfitted at such expense, simply collapsed and lots of the country’s market leaders fled, along with hundreds and hundreds of other Afghans plus foreigners.
Chief executive Biden criticised those people Afghan government commanders who fled and said the nation’s military “gave up, sometimes without endeavoring to fight”.
Mohammad Edris Momand
Momand is clear where his loyalty lay.
He recalls reporting to get duty at Kabul airbase on fourteen August. The situation has been tense, with the Taliban at the gates of the capital. Rumours were swirling about best political and army leaders planning to escape.
The airport was under US military control, but just how long it would remain secure was in doubt.
“Our air force commander ordered all the pilots to fly out. He aimed us to go to Uzbekistan, ” Momand recalls.
He was angered by the instruction plus decided not to obey it.
“My commander had been urging me to betray my country, Why should I follow such an order? ”
Mohammad Edris Momand.
Momand sought advice from his family. He says their father told him he’d never reduce him if this individual left the country plus warned him: “The helicopter belongs in order to Afghanistan. ”
Momand’s province, Kunar within the east, had currently fallen to the Taliban. His father talked to the group’s nearby governor, who assured him that he stomach to no damage if the helicopter has been flown there.
Momand then created an escape plan — but first he had to ditch his team.
“Every Black Hawk has a four-member crew. I knew I couldn’t trust them with my plan. I used to be sure they would not agree. They would have endangered my life as well as destroyed the heli-copter. ”
So this individual came up with a scheme to deceive all of them.
“I told the environment force commander the particular helicopter had specialized problems and I could not take off. When they heard this, all three crew members leaped aboard another heli-copter which was being ready to leave for Uzbekistan. ”
After all the other helicopters took off, using the his engine to get a solo 30-minute trip to Kunar.
“The Americans were controlling air visitors control. So , I actually told them on the radio that I was taking off for Uzbekistan. After leaving the particular airport I turned off my radar setting and went right to Kunar.
“I arrived in my village close to my home. After getting assurances in the Taliban, I required the helicopter to some place where helicopters had been refuelled previously. ”
His says his family, friends and neighbours fully supported his decision.
Momand says he’s no regrets about his actions. This individual points out he’d experienced the option to keep Afghanistan with his spouse and children, but had decided to stay.
“American advisers messaged me three times. Someone said, even if you can’t take the helicopter, come by road with your family members to get evacuated. But I didn’t accept the offer. ”
Mohammad Edris Momand
At the end of June 2021, the particular Afghan Air Pressure was operating 167 aircraft, including strike helicopters and planes, according to a report launched by the US-based Exclusive Inspector General just for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar).
Some of these air possessions were flown out by Momand’s co-workers. Analysis of satellite images of Uzbekistan’s Termez Airport on 16 August displays it housing greater than two dozen helicopters, including Mi-17s, Mi-25s, Black Hawks and many A-29 light-attack and C-208 aircraft.
American troops did what they could to sabotage most of the planes and helicopters left behind within Kabul.
It is not clear how many remain operational in Afghanistan nowadays.
“We now have seven Black Hawk helicopters which are usable. Afghan engineers with restricted resources were able to restoration them. Step by step we are going to put other Dark Hawk helicopters to make use of, ” Momand says.
Far from feeling that he abandoned his comrades, Momand blames them, saying they caused big losses upon Afghanistan by blindly following the order in order to leave the country.
“Those who travelled away with their helicopter to Uzbekistan really let the country lower. The helicopters belong to our country. They were very expensive. I don’t think we will ever have them back. ”
Momand sees no conundrum in flying their highly prized Black Hawk for the Taliban, after being educated by the US in order to fight against the insurgents.
“Governments always modify. People like us belong to the nation and serve the nation. The particular military should not get involved with politics. The country has invested a lot in people like me. ”
Even though the Taliban have been in strength for a year, simply no country has officially recognised them since Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers.
Despite this, Momand remains resolute.
“I may continue in my field to serve the nation until the final day of my entire life. ”
Twenty years of issue in Afghanistan – what happened when?
From 9/11, to intense combating on the ground, and now complete withdrawal of US-led forces, here’s what happened.
9/11
Al-Qaeda, brought by Osama Rubbish bin Laden in Afghanistan, carries out the largest fear attack ever conducted on US ground.
Four industrial airliners are hijacked. Two are flown into the World Trade Centre in Nyc, which collapses. A single hits the Pentagon building in Wa, and one crashes in to a field in Pa. Nearly 3, 500 people are killed.
First surroundings strikes
A US-led coalition bombs Taliban and al-Qaeda amenities in Afghanistan. Focuses on include Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad.
The Taliban, who also took power after a decade-long Soviet occupation was followed by municipal war, refuse to give Bin Laden. Their particular air defences plus small fleet associated with fighter aircraft are destroyed.
Fall of Kabul
The particular Northern Alliance, a group of anti-Taliban rebels supported by coalition forces, enters Kabul since the Taliban flee the city.
By the 13 November 2001, all Taliban have possibly fled or already been neutralised. Other metropolitan areas quickly fall.
New constitution
After protracted negotiations at a “loya jirga” or grand assembly, the newest Afghan constitution is usually signed into regulation. The constitution paves the way for usa president elections in Oct 2004.
Hamid Karzai becomes president
Hamid Karzai, the leader of the Popalzai Durrani tribe, becomes the first chief executive under the new cosmetic. He serves 2 five-year terms as president.
UK troops used to Helmand
British troops arrive in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold in the south from the country.
Their particular initial mission would be to support reconstruction projects, but they are quickly drawn into battle operations. More than 450 British troops lose their lives in Afghanistan over the course of the turmoil.
Obama’s surge
US President Barack Obama approves a major increase in the amount of troops sent to Afghanistan. At their top, they number regarding 140, 000.
The so-called “surge” is modelled upon US strategy within Iraq where ALL OF US forces focussed on protecting the civilian population as well as killing insurgent fighters.
Osama Bin Laden killed
The leader of al-Qaeda will be killed in an strike by US Navy blue Seals on a compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan. Bin Laden’s body is removed plus buried at ocean. The operation ends a 10-year hunt led by the CIA. The verification that Bin Packed had been living upon Pakistani soil energy sources accusations in the US that will Pakistan is an untrustworthy ally in the battle on terror.
Death associated with Mullah Omar
The founder of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, dies. His loss of life is kept secret for more than two years.
According to Afghan intelligence, Mullah Omar dies of health issues at a hospital within the Pakistani city of Karachi. Pakistan denies which he was in the country.
Nato finishes combat operations
In a ceremony in Kabul, Nato ends the combat operations within Afghanistan. With the rise now over, the US withdraws thousands of soldiers. Most of those who remain focus on instruction and supporting the Afghan security makes.
Taliban resurgence
The particular Taliban launch a series of suicide attacks, vehicle bombings and other assaults. The parliament creating in Kabul, and the city of Kunduz are attacked. Islamic Condition militants begin operations in Afghanistan.
Death toll announcement
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says more than 45, 1000 members of his country’s security allows have been killed considering that he became leader in 2014. The figure is far higher than previously believed.
US signs deal with Taliban
The US and the Taliban sign an “agreement for bringing peace” to Afghanistan, within Doha, Qatar. The US and Nato allies agree to withdraw all troops within 14 months if the militants uphold the deal.
Date intended for final withdrawal
US president Joe Biden announces that all ALL OF US troops will leave Afghanistan by 11 September 2021.
Taliban go back to power
In just more than a month, the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan, taking control of towns and cities all over the country, including Kabul. Afghan security forces fall in the face of the Taliban advance.
