York student tells of escape from Taliban and 'one of worst place in world'

The mature student, who doesn't want to be named because he still has family in the country, smuggled his wife and two children across the border to Pakistan past hostile Taliban border guards and corrupt officials.

With the University of York's help, they were eventually able to make it to the UK. York City of sanctuary has helped them to settle here.

Car bomb attack on an NGO office in Kabul

Like others, the student - who worked on Afghan government and US-backed community development projects in his country - was caught by surprise by the speed of the Taliban takeover.

He had been due to fly to the UK in September to start his Ph.D. But suddenly, all flights were suspended.

It was 'complete chaos', he said. "Schools were closed, community services were closed."

As the British and US forces left, he was left feeling 'completely hopeless'.

Then Taliban fighters started searching houses for former government officials and anyone who had worked with foreign agencies.

"I had to destroy all my certificates, copies of contracts, ID cards and education documents," he said.

Fearing for his life he decided to drive his family to the Pakistan border and try to cross.

He hired a pickup, and - making sure his passport with its British visa was hidden - headed for Afghanistan's southern border.

But they had to turn back. "The highway was extremely insecure," he said. "They were searching, taking people from taxis and buses."

Dangerous: The road to the Pakistan border at Chaman

They returned to Kabul. But with former government and NGO offices being targeted by car bombs, and ex-government officials being attacked in the street, he knew he had to get his family out.

They set off to drive to a different part of Pakistan border, at Torkham - one of the 'worst places in the world'.

"It is like a hell. The most dangerous, brutal fighters of the Taliban and Pakistani border forces are deployed there."

At the border, he and his family left their car, then walked 40 minutes to join a desperate queue of people trying to leave the country. He had hidden his passport and smartphone, and planned to say he was taking his family across the border for medical reasons.

They queued for hours. "There were hundreds and hundreds of people," he said. "Children, women, elderly people, people in wheelchairs, all asking for permission to cross."

Taliban border guards eventually gave him a gate pass - but he and his family still had to get past the Pakistan border guards. Again, they were kept waiting - later he realised someone was probably hoping for a bribe.

Eventually, they were allowed into Pakistan, and hired a car to Islamabad.

They waited two weeks for a flight, but eventually made it to the UK.

The student is full of praise for the University of York, which supported him throughout. "They were in contact even when I was in Kabul," he said.

But he is worried about his father in Afghanistan. "We're in contact daily. He doesn't go out. But he is OK."