Fijian national Kitione Bonakeli Leleavono said the situation in Kabul was so bad he was forced to flee the Afghanistan capital with only the clothes he had on his back.
The Lomaiviti native said he had to leave all his belongings behind when he boarded a British Royal Air Force flight for England after the Taliban took over Kabul when American troops started pulling out of Afghanistan after maintaining a presence there for the past 20 years.
Mr Leleavono had worked in diplomatic security in Kabul for the past decade.
He was repatriated out of the country to North Yorkshire on Tuesday where he underwent a 10-day COVID-19 quarantine.
Mr Leleavono said he was hoping to be reunited with his family soon.
He said there was widespread panic in Kabul when people heard heavily armed Taliban forces were fast approaching the city.
“There was chaos on the streets as people tried to flee the city and go to the airport,” the father of three said.
“To them, the Taliban was coming to kill them and it was a sad scene to see in the once peaceful city of Kabul that I once called home.”
He said all the diplomats located in other regions of Afghanistan were gathered and taken to safety before they were repatriated out of Kabul with the help of British soldiers.
“The biggest challenge was trying to get diplomats in Taliban occupied regions out, we had to be very careful and our priority was their safety.
“Some diplomats were taken right to the airport and the only belongings they had were the clothes they were wearing, like most of us, they had to leave everything behind. I just took a few things I needed like important travel documents and the clothes I was wearing, and boarded the British Royal Air Force flight to England with other Afghan nationals who fled the country.”
Mr Leleavono said the military aircraft was also boarded by Afghan civilians and it was gut-wrenching to see the terrified faces of children and women on the flight.
He said he had served in the Middle East but had never experienced anything like what happened in Kabul.
“During my years of service in Afghanistan, every second day I had come across a bomb blast and I thank God for protecting me all those years.”
