'Everybody wants to escape that country': Suburban Afghans fear for their hiding families

When the Taliban first rose to power in the mid-1990s, its members would walk in the bazaars of Kabul reassuring the Afghan people, weary from decades of warfare, that they were in good hands.

"I remember that day when Taliban came. I was a kid in the bazaar. Everybody was shaking hands with them," said Ahmadzai, a 33-year-old Afghan refugee now living in Villa Park. "They were saying, 'We are good people. Don't be scared of us.'"

It didn't take long for that bubble to burst, said Ahmadzai, who requested his last name be withheld from publication for fear of reprisals against his family.

The Taliban quickly imposed strict rules - stemming from the group's austere interpretation of Islamic law - mandating that women be covered from head to toe, forbidding them from studying, working or traveling alone, and banning TV, music and non-Islamic holidays.

Ahmadzai fears history is repeating itself with the Taliban swiftly seizing control over Afghanistan nearly 20 years after being ousted from power by U.S. troops.

"It looks like the same situation," he said. "Maybe they are a little bit changed, but I still think they are very severe."

He and other Afghans settled in the Chicago area are anxious for the safety of family members and their motherland as the situation descends into chaos.

"The concern is not only (for) family. We are worried about the future of our country," Ahmadzai said. "The situation is getting worse hour by hour."

Violence erupted at Kabul airport Monday as hundreds of people swarmed the tarmac desperately seeking a way out. Ahmadzai's parents were among those who rushed to the airport but turned back after seeing the mayhem that caused a stampede, Ahmadzai said.

The airport is under the control of U.S. military forces whose planned withdrawal by the end of the month precipitated the Taliban's return, the total collapse of the Afghan national and provincial governments, and military surrender.

Ahmadzai worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Kabul before immigrating here in 2017 under a special visa, leaving behind his parents, sisters, brothers and extended family members who now are in hiding.

"Their lives are in danger," he said. "They are trying to get out."

Many Afghans are questioning why the Taliban was able to regain power so easily, how the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed and why the well-trained and well-equipped Afghan military forces surrendered so quickly without a fight.

"Forty countries came to Afghanistan to get rid of the terrorist groups," said Zarif Gul, 34, of Chicago, who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. embassy and U.S. drug enforcement agents in Kabul until he immigrated here in 2014. "Are (Taliban) not terrorists now? Who legitimized these people?"

Gul called on nations who helped oust the Taliban the first time around not to abandon the Afghan people now.

"We need help," he said. "Our families are in danger. They can't work. They can't go out. Right now, (the Taliban) are promising a lot of things, that they are not going to harm anyone. We just don't want any war in Afghanistan. We were under war for more than 40 years. We don't want to lose our brothers and sisters anymore."

The condition of Afghan women is of paramount concern to those who have experienced life under Taliban rule, said a 48-year-old Aurora woman we're calling "Sarah" because she requested her real name be withheld for fear of her family being targeted.

"A lot of people are overwhelmed and ... fearful of speaking with the media," she said. "It's very dangerous for my family right now."

Sarah was 29 when the Taliban first captured Kabul. At the time, she was working for the Afghan national bank and studying architecture, both of which were disrupted once the Taliban cracked down on women's education and employment. Her husband then worked with the Afghan government.

The family fled Kabul and took refuge in Pakistan before coming here as refugees in August 2001.

Sarah said she's spent many sleepless nights worrying about her siblings and extended family members in Kabul who are in hiding because some members worked for the ousted Afghan government.

"I don't know what will happen to them," she said. "They are trapped. We cannot even send them money for their food."

Sarah said people were hopeful when the U.S. military and allied forces first invaded Afghanistan.

"In this moment, we go back to zero," she said. "We lost, especially with women's rights ... We went to maybe 100 years back. Now, there is no hope. Everybody wants to escape that country."