‘I am an Australian citizen’: man beaten by Taliban while trying to flee Afghanistan

An Australian citizen has been beaten and kidnapped by the Taliban as he tried to leave the country, before being released after pleas from his family.

He remains in hiding in Afghanistan. His wife and brother are in Australia.

The man, whom the Guardian is choosing not to name for fear of further attacks, was shown in a video with blood streaming from wounds on his head.

Filming himself, the man says: “They hit me. I am an Australian citizen. They hit me.”

Armed Taliban, carrying AK47s, can be seen in the background. A man approaches him, trying to grab the camera and angrily telling him to “turn it off”.

“I am an Australian citizen. I am not Afghan. You cannot hit me,” the Australian man replies, speaking Dari.

Attempting to walk away from the Taliban, the Australian man continues, now in English: “This happened to me when I was crossing [to the] airport.”

A rifle is heard being loaded, before shots are fired.

The man is Hazara, an ethnic and religious minority that has faced systemic persecution and violence by the Taliban over decades.

As tens of thousands have fled for Kabul’s airport, there have been regular reports that Hazaras have been singled out for violent mistreatment at Taliban checkpoints and refused access to the airport.

Atika Hussain, a family friend and member of Australia’s Hazara community, spoke with the captured man’s brother, who confirmed: “The Taliban has taken him and a few members of his family and they do not know their whereabouts. Female family members were beaten too by Taliban.”

Several hours later, Taliban insurgents released the man and his family members after pleas from other family members. But the man was not allowed to go to the airport and he is now in hiding in Kabul.

Hussain told the Guardian it was impossible for Hazaras to pass Taliban checkpoints in Kabul.

“After he was attacked, this man is too scared to take the risk, without some sort of security, some protection. I am aware soldiers from the US and Europe are going out of the airport to locations in Kabul to escort people. Why does Australia not do this, especially for children and women who can’t go through the crowd?”

The Australian government has said it is now too dangerous to travel to the airport, the only practicable way out of the country.

“Do not travel to Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport,” government advice says. “If you’re in the area of the airport, move to a safe location and await further advice.

“The situation in Afghanistan remains highly volatile and dangerous. Be aware of the potential for violence and security threats with large crowds. There’s an ongoing and very high threat of terrorist attack.”

Asked about the reported beating, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the area outside Kabul airport was “a highly dangerous situation”.

The situation on the ground was “terrible, brutal and awful”, he said.

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said Australian officials had “tried very, very hard – 24/7, literally – to make sure that we are dealing with as many of those individual cases as possible”.

“I have seen, heard reports of the attacks on women, attacks on children, threats at checkpoints, invasions of transports, where children and families have been threatened in those transports, as they have been trying to get to the airport. The complexity of this is significant,” Payne said.

There is a narrowing window for foreign nationals and Afghans holding visas for other countries to escape the country.

The Taliban have effective control of almost all of the country – the redoubtable Panjshir valley north of Kabul remains outside their control, and foreign forces have secured Kabul’s international airport. Land borders, including the busiest crossings into Iran and Pakistan, are in Taliban hands.

While foreign forces remain in control of the airfield, evacuation flights will continue to extract those who can get past the Taliban checkpoints surrounding the airport. So far more than 70,000 people have been evacuated in 12 days, but the US has said it will not stay beyond the 31 August deadline it previously agreed with the Taliban.

All foreign operations are contingent on the US remaining in the country.

The Taliban too, have said they do not want Afghans leaving the country.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told evacuating forces to “stop this process” of evacuation and said only foreigners would be allowed to reach Kabul airport in coming days.

“We are not in favour of allowing Afghans to leave,” Mujahid said. “This country needs their ­expertise. They should not be taken to other countries.”

The Taliban have said they would regard any foreign military presence in the country beyond 31 August as an “extended occupation”.