‘How Can You Abandon Us Like This?’ Afghan Special Ops Pilot, Left Behind After U.S. Withdrawal, Says ‘We Are Running Out Of Time’

Earlier in September, Travis Dale Peterson spoke with The Daily Wire’s “Morning Wire” about the awe-inspiring effort by a group of former U.S. Special Forces personnel who organized a massive rescue effort of Afghan allies from Afghanistan.

This week, Peterson shared a letter with The Daily Wire from Colonel Belal Kohistani, one of the Special Mission Wing pilots effectively abandoned by the Biden administration and other Western allies in the days following the U.S. withdrawal.

Special Mission Wing, also known as “the triple seven” are elite special operations Afghan pilots tasked with supporting counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism missions.

“My name is Colonel Belal Kohistani and I am currently in the UAE with my fellow 777 Special Mission Wing team awaiting evacuation orders for our families out of Afghanistan. We are deeply concerned as we feel we are not being listened [to],” the translated letter begins. “As a people stricken with unending grief, some of us have aged decades in a few years and have grown old at a young age without ever seeing the world or anything beyond our four walls. Amidst all of this, when terrorized by an extremist force, those of us who have spent years working for foreign presence in Afghanistan deserve to be saved. It is the least that can be done when our uneventful, but equally precious lives are at stake.”

Colonel Kohistani then posed a question for the military forces who had withdrawn.

“Our question for NATO and Special Operations Units for US, UK, Australia and Italy is this: How can you abandon us like this? Your allies and your comrades. We fought and countered terrorism together. We upheld the same beliefs against the terrorists. Our motto was one and our mission inclusive of both foreign and local efforts. In particular, SMW 777 was one of the best units in Afghanistan,” Colonel Kohistani wrote. “We gathered around the same meeting tables with you, drafted thousands of operational plans together, our mission was one: to counter terrorism: to destroy the enemy, their bases, and the drug trafficking pipelines that funded their operations.”

Colonel Kohistani continued to say that despite the quality of training the “best fighters in Afghanistan” had received, those left behind felt forgotten.

“The best of NATO and the United States trained the best fighters in Afghanistan; we felt valued, appreciated, and vital to the mission.  In the end, it turns out, that was not the case. The reality is that