An Afghan Army helicopter pilot who was believed to be killed by the Taliban in August is alive and safe in America.
Safia Ferozi was one of four women pilots to serve in the surrendering Afghan forces. She has publicly denied online footage and images that showed her being executed by a mob in Kabul.
31-year-old former Captain Ferozi revealed further to US military news outlet Stars and Stripes that she was taken out of Afghanistan by US forces on August 15, the day the Taliban took control of the city.
31-year-old Safia Ferozi denied claims that she was killed in the aftermath of August’s Taliban overthrow. Ex-Afghan soldier, who fled Afghanistan during chaos in Kabul’s capital city, now lives in the US with her family.
Videos and images that showed a public staining in Kabul were miscaptioned. They appeared after August attacks. The footage incorrectly claimed that Ferozi the woman photographed was, in fact, Ferozi. She had also been shot by Taliban rebels.
In a phone interview, she stated that Jawad Najafi 36, her husband and 5-year-old daughter Nargis were transported by an American aircraft to Qatar, where they gave birth to another child at a US military facility.
The pilot didn’t have access to internet during her time in the Middle East country. She only learned about viral videos and images after a doctor pointed out the content in hospital.
The photographs and footage, depicting a badly bloodied woman pleading with a Kabul crowd as they surround her and pelt her with stones, erroneously captioned the victim depicted in the 2015 attack as Ferozi.
The fact that images and videos were incorrectly captioned by Reuters was revealed later that same year.
Farkhunda Malikzada was instead the wild woman seen in disturbing video and images. She was falsely accused and then murdered in 2015 by angry crowds in capital.
Ferozi shared her shock with Stars and Stripes. She also revealed the shocking news to those she knew.
The ex-airforce captain was determined to let her family and friends know that she hadn’t suffered the same terrible fate as the people on the internet.
This footage shows a woman in distress, pleading with Kabul people as they surround and harass her. They eventually killed her. The captions on social media show that the stone-throwing actually occurred in 2015.
Ferozi was deeply concerned about Malikzada since the photos of her stoning were published. Abdul Rahman Rahmani had also been a pilot and had searched tirelessly for any evidence that might have led to his ex-colleagues’ fate.
“I was scared,” the Afghan soldier said over the weekend.
Ferozi shared that her family had spent three months at a New Jersey military base after leaving Qatar. She and her family plan to relocate to their new West Coast home.
Although she believes that she has escaped certain death, it is unlikely there will ever be any women who can follow her. However, the persecution of Afghan women continues to force her to acknowledge this.
Helen was her choice for a name, as she felt Helen would be a strong name.
Ferozi may have cheated her death but she thinks she would likely be added to distressing statistics after the Taliban’s bloody overthrow.
A recent Human Rights Watch report revealed that more than 100 Afghan ex-military personnel were killed or taken into captivity by the Taliban, despite the fact that there was an amnesty.
Ferozi said, “If it was me in Afghanistan I’m certain it would have happened to you.”
Ferozi, a six-year veteran of the Afghan military as a Captain and Helicopter Pilot before fleeing her home country in August during unrest. However, it was not the first time she fled her home country during a hostile takeover. As a teenager, she fled Afghanistan in the early 90’s when the Taliban seized control. After the Taliban lost power in 1990, she returned to Afghanistan.
Ferozi, the Afghan Army’s second female pilot was Ferozi.
Ferozi’s parents fled Kabul, where she was still a small child during civil war. Ferozi, then a little girl, fled her home in Kabul, with her family, and returned to Pakistan after the Taliban’s fall.
Ferozi, a teenager in post-Taliban Afghanistan saw a television commercial encouraging women to join their military.
Ferozi saw the advertisement, and quickly signed up for the military academy. There, she learned to be a communications officer.
However, soon after signing up for the service, the young soldier decided to change his course. It was revealed at the academy that Afghanistan had an air force looking for female pilots.
Ferozi was one of 12 women who applied to the program. Ferozi was the only woman among the twelve who had passed the test to be admitted into the program.
While she was training at the airfield in Herat’s western province, she met Captain Najafi. The pair married in 2014
Ferozi completed her training in 2015. In 2015, Ferozi graduated from training. She later gave birth to their first baby.
Ferozi, for a while, was the only female pilot in Afghanistan’s air force. This number has now risen to four.
During her training at an airfield in the western province of Herat, she met Captain Jawad Najafi. Later, the couple would wed in 2014 and they now reside in the US together with their daughter.
Photographed in the C-208 airplane at Kabul military airbase, Afghanistan.
Ferozi, who has overcome numerous obstacles and survived multiple Taliban takeovers says now she wants to inspire others.
She stated that while women face many difficulties, they must also deal with them.
“When I don a military uniform, it makes me feel very proud to be a woman.”
Ferozi told the outlet that Ferozi left the Afghan military in recent months and has become a civilian.