Newbury dad lied to Taliban to rescue his family from Kabul

A father has described how he lied to Taliban guards to get into Afghanistan to rescue his family and saw British passports destroyed at Kabul Airport.

Mansoor Khan arrived in the UK 10 years ago and has a British passport.

But his wife and one-year-old daughter lived in Kabul until August, when they fled with Mr Khan to Newbury, in Berkshire.

The family had just minutes to collect their things before getting on to a flight from Kabul Airport to the UK.

Mr Khan, who owns sweet shops in Henley, Newbury and Bath, flew first to Tashkent in Uzbekistan as the Taliban tightened its grip on the country, before travelling 750-mile (1,209km) across land to Kabul.

On reaching the border with Afghanistan, he said he was quizzed by Taliban guards on why he was returning to the country.

"I said: 'I'm back because the Taliban's back'. I just lied to them," he told the BBC.

Mr Khan said he decided to return for his family after concluding there was "no future" for his daughter under Taliban rule.

"I couldn't see my daughter struggling there... [there are] no human rights at all," he said.

In the days before his family's flight, he said he made a number of trips to the airport.

"The Taliban were hitting [people] and firing into the air," he said.

"A couple of people, when they showed their British passports, the Taliban took them from them and tore them into pieces. It scared me and I went back home."

Mr Khan said he was given an hour's notice by British officials to get to the airport.

When they arrived, he said: "There was smoke and tear gas, but when they saw my passport and my family, they said there would be a flight in four hours.

"As soon as I saw the British forces, I was happy."

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