'My heart aches for Afghanistan': Mother's emotional reunion with family as she returns to UK

• ITV News Political Correspondent Anushka Asthana reports on the joy and relief as Layloma Hafizi is reunited with her family

For the Hafizi family in Coventry – there is one simple way to describe what they are witnessing in Afghanistan right now. This is “history repeating itself”, they say. And they should know. Fereba Hafizi was just eight-years-old when she travelled to the UK with her family - forced to flee the Taliban after her father - Sabrullah - was badly beaten for his work as a tailor with female customers. None of them could imagine that they would become embroiled in the Taliban’s rise back to power, two decades later, but that is what happened after Fereba’s mother travelled to Afghanistan for a family funeral last month - only to become trapped. When Layloma Hafizi was finally reunited with her family on Tuesday, the 79-year-old broke down crying as she recounted what had happened at the gates to Kabul airport.

• Watch as Layloma Hafizi is reunited with her family after her ordeal in Afghanistan

Speaking to ITV News, she described being caught in a crush of people desperately trying to reach the airport.

In words translated by her daughter, Layloma – who is a dual British and Afghan national – described how she became exhausted as she tried to make her way through the crowds and was then knocked unconscious by an unexpected punch to the chest. Her nephew carried her the rest of the way on his back, and she woke alone in a medical area with an IV tube in her arm. Fereba, a fashion photographer, described how the family – back home – were heartbroken and couldn’t stop crying in the “worst nightmare of our lives”.

Layloma said the Taliban were even more sinister now than 20 years ago, saying she saw them “eye to eye” and was terrified. She said that during her 10 days in hotel quarantine in the UK she could not stop thinking of the girls and women now fearing for their lives in Afghanistan. Shaking as she sobbed, she said her “heart aches for the entire nation”.

'I can't stop crying for the people left in Afghanistan'

Listening to Layloma and Fereba brings back the human reality of the West’s shambolic withdrawal from Afghanistan; an exit that leaves governments like the UK dependent on diplomacy with the Taliban.

This story is a stark reminder of who the West must now do business with; a political group that beat Sabrullah Hafizi so viciously for simply making clothes for women – that he can still show his loved-ones the deep scars on his legs as a reminder. And as the Hafizi family point out – that is just one of thousands upon thousands of stories. Beyond what the Taliban represent is how they see this moment. As the former ambassador and foreign office adviser, Peter Ricketts, points out to ITV News: “They’ve just achieved a famous victory after a 20-year struggle, so I don’t think there’s going to be much mood for accepting what the west is now saying to them.”

He argues that Britain’s best hope for influence is to find common cause on the issue of terrorism. But even with good will from the Taliban on cracking down on terrorist activity in Afghanistan, Ricketts argued that there may be limits to their capability in achieving a safe haven from groups like ISKP.

'The minute I saw you, it felt as if my whole world was coming back'

These are the type of questions Raab will be asked when the foreign secretary appears in front of the foreign affairs select committee on Wednesday. The shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy wants her counterpart to be asked why better preparations were not in place. Says the government had 18 months it could have used to prepare evacuation plans, and is also pushing on what will happen now to the thousands more still trying to flee. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is said to have told Tory MPs that there is uncertainty around whether it will be possible for people to cross out of Afghanistan via borders that were previously thought to be open, with criticism appearing to be flying between the ministry of defence and foreign office. What everyone knows - including the Hafizi family back in Coventry – is that however much a country like Britain wants to help in Afghanistan – it’s influence now is hugely weakened – and that is a terrifying prospect for the tens of thousands left behind – who are desperate to escape.