Liverpool taxi driver 'trapped' in Afghanistan after trying to rescue family

"Ahmed" speaks from Afghanistan to ITV Granada Reports presenter Lucy Meacock


A taxi driver from Liverpool says he is trapped in Afghanistan after returning to his home country to rescue members of his family.

Ahmed, which isn't his real name, says they are in hiding from the Taliban after leaving the capital Kabul.

He told ITV Granada Reports he hopes they can somehow find a way out to safety.

The 30 year old, who has British citizenship, travelled to Afghanistan a fortnight ago to try to rescue his wife and children who live in the country.

He says he tried to leave during the evacuation but could not stay at the airport because of the dangers.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab giving evidence to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in London Credit: House of Commons/PA Wire/PA Images

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he is flying to the region for talks about the rescue of those left behind when US and UK forces pulled out.

The Cabinet minister said he would visit Pakistan and revealed UK intelligence suggests Kabul is "unlikely" to fall this year.

It comes as the first refugees have arrived in Liverpool as part of the government’s resettlement programme.

Around 100 people, including families and single people, are being accommodated at a hotel in South Liverpool having completed a Covid-19 quarantine period elsewhere in the UK.

They will stay there until permanent accommodation is found for them, which could be elsewhere in the north west.

Meanwhile, a north west MP says she is handling more than 470 cases of people trying to escape from Afghanistan - among them several children.

Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour member for Bolton South East, says the town will welcome Afghan refugees but she wants the Government to force all local councils to do the same.