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Call to Kabul

The Story of Three Brothers

Duration: 14 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LWLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FM

Available for over a year

Naqeeb receives confirmation that one of his brothers has been publicly executed in the Kandahar region. The surviving brother, Dr Hijrat Nabee Zada, is a doctor at the World Health Organisation and before the Taliban takeover he was overseeing the polio vaccination programme.

In calls to Anita he describes his new life as he moves between safe houses with his wife, Aziza and their three young children. They are very frightened and know that their only hope is to leave the country. His employers say there’s nothing they can do and so it falls on Paul, a former officer int he Marines, to make a plan.

This programme follows the efforts Naqeeb and Paul are making to get his brother to safety. Exposure on the BBC’s Any Answers programme in August was critical in saving Naqeeb’s life. The transmission of pleas made by the former officer reached MPs, Government ministers and others able to assist.

Eight years earlier the interpreter, Naqeeb, had helped to save eight soldiers from an attack by a suicide bomber. Now those same soldiers wanted to repay that loyalty and an unofficial alliance is formed as they work behind the scenes to plan a way forward

Produced by Sue Mitchell
Presented by Anita Anand Show less

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