From Kabul Airport to a Houston Walmart: ‘Desperate to Get to America’

Members of an Afghan family endured kidnappings, threats and car bombs over the decade they waited for U.S. visas. Now they’re starting a new life in Texas.

HOUSTON — As an interpreter working alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan, Zar Mohammad Yousafzai taught English to Afghan soldiers and Pashto to American troops. He helped negotiate agreements with tribal leaders to halt attacks on Americans and instructed Afghans on how to use American weapons. He dodged mortar attacks and Taliban ambushes and, eventually, repeated death threats from insurgents who regarded him as a spy. One text message read: “You are a traitor. You work for the infidels. We are going to kill you.” His third son, just 7 at the time, was kidnapped for ransom by militants in 2017. On Aug. 14, as the Taliban were storming across Afghanistan, his family of nine was evacuated on a U.S. military flight. By the time they touched down in Virginia, the insurgents had entered Kabul and taken full control of the country.