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A pregnant California woman who was left behind in Afghanistan has safely fled from the country, a Republican congressman said Friday.
The woman, identified only as Nasria in recent media reports, “braved beatings and harassment by the Taliban” while she remained there, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa said, according to FOX 5 in San Diego.
That abuse included a kick to her stomach, Issa said last month during an appearance on Fox News.
Issa has been among the lawmakers and others who have been working to evacuate stranded Americans from Afghanistan since the country fell to the Taliban last month following President Biden’s withdrawal of U.S. forces after a 20-year involvement in the country following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
THIRD PLANE WITH AMERICANS ON BOARD LANDS IN DOHA
The congressman said Nasria, 25, is heading home but her husband, whom she married while in Afghanistan, remains behind.
On Friday, a plane carrying Americans and other evacuees left Kabul and landed in Doha, Qatar, but it wasn’t immediately clear if Nasria was aboard that plane.
Nasria, 25, a California resident, has left Afghanistan, according to U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Earlier this month, Nasria spoke to Voice of America, claiming at the time that Taliban fighters were “hunting Americans” since U.S. troops left the country.
“Apparently they’re going door-to-door … trying to see if anybody has a blue passport,” Nasria told the outlet.
Nasria and her husband made attempts to leave Afghanistan via the chaotic airport in Kabul earlier this month but were unable to board a flight, she said.
“It was so hard to get on a flight,” she told Voice of America. “There were a couple of days where we had to sleep on streets. People were literally stepping over people. That’s how bad it was.”
U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks in El Cajon, California, Sept. 26, 2019. (Associated Press)
A statement from Issa’s office said the congressman had “successfully facilitated” Nasria’s departure from Afghanistan, FOX 5 reported, but the details were unclear and it wasn’t immediately known how Nasria left or where her most immediate destination was.
Issa first learned about Nasria from friends who had contacted his office, the station reported. The congressman and his staff soon established communications inside Afghanistan to work on her behalf.
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“Weeks of work and countless hours of coordination paid off,” Issa wrote in the statement.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said about 100 U.S. citizens remained in Afghanistan and want to leave, but rescue organizations and others claim the number may be higher, FOX 5 reported.
On Wednesday, Issa announced that an elderly couple from California, both in their 80s, were returning home after leaving Afghanistan following efforts on their behalf.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this story.
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