Resist, accommodate or flee: The tough choice for Afghans over the Taliban

The Afghan aid official and his family tried to make it to Kabul airport. They wanted desperately to get out of the country. But they were daunted by the massive, desperate crowds outside and the presence of unruly soldiers protecting the facility.

The 52-year-old, who mostly lives in the Gulf, opted to keep himself and his family at their home in Kabul, at least for now. But instead of cowering in fear, he called relatives and members of his extended family who are in touch with “the other side,” as he describes the Taliban.

He implored them to vouch for him and his family, and to win assurances that the militant fundamentalists now in control of Afghanistan would not harm him. They sent out feelers on his behalf: as an executive running an aid organisation distributing help to the neediest in remote places like Khost, Kunduz and Baghlan, he would contribute to the country’s success rather than its failure.