Taliban hunt Kitchener man hiding with friends in Kabul

KITCHENER - One month after the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan the situation on the ground is increasingly desperate, says the head of the Afghan Association of Waterloo Region, who remains trapped there.

There is no school, no jobs and no food for those who can't afford it," said Wasai Rahimi who returned to his native country to work with iHelp International. It is a very desperate life here in Afghanistan."

Rahimi is among 1,200 Canadian citizens trapped in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the Central Asian country following the withdrawal of the American military.

The situation gets worse day by day," said Rahimi in an email from Kabul.

A person who was a neighbour of my cousin, he worked with one of the American organizations, a group of Taliban came to his home Sunday, shot him and left," said Rahimi.

The chaotic evacuation after 20 years of war ended before all of the Canadians there, and another 2,100 Afghans who worked for the Canadian military, could be flown out.

Rahimi was working with a non-profit organization that trains women for the workforce. That makes him a target for the Taliban. Rahimi is an outspoken critic of the Taliban. He is also from the Panjshir Valley, a centre of anti-Taliban resistance. The Taliban massacred 20 civilians in that valley recently.

Some Taliban came to my brother's home Sunday night, where I used to live," said Rahimi. They surrounded the entire street, they searched the house and were asking for me."

The Taliban beat his brother, and yelled at the family.

They denied everything and simply told them: We don't know.'" said Rahimi.

While waiting for commercial international flights to resume out of the Kabul airport, the married father of seven feels abandoned by the government of his adopted country.

I haven't been able to reach anyone from Canadian government or Global Affairs Canada yet," said Rahimi.

Meanwhile, Kitchener-Waterloo's Afghan community has welcomed more than 90 people from the war-torn country during the past few weeks. More government sponsored refugees are expected in the coming weeks. It is not known when privately sponsored refugees from Afghanistan will be accepted into Canada.

A new organization called Lifeline Afghanistan launched earlier this month that aims to help settle 20,000 Afghans in Canada. The group will draw on the lessons it learned with Lifeline Syria in 2015-2016 when it helped settle 80,000 refugees from the Syrian Civil War.

Terry Pender is a Waterloo Region-based reporter focusing on arts and entertainment for The Record. Reach him via email: tpender@therecord.com