A desperate Dublin dad has begged the government to help him get his two young daughters home safely from the 'chaos' in Afghanistan.
Omid Ahmadi is currently stranded in Kabul with his wife and two daughters after travelling over to Afghanistan for a family visit before the Taliban seized control.
The parents, who raised both their young children in Dublin, are willing to "take any opportunity" they get to flee the country.
Speaking to Newstalk, he explained the family tried to flee after being contacted by the Embassy, but they were called to a point inside the airport which they couldn't access as thousands blocked their path.
He said: "The airport is in chaos and I don’t see them letting the flights, especially international flights, be activated very soon.
“There were over 10,000 people waiting outside the airport. These were the people wanting to flee Afghanistan under their own circumstances.
"Everybody was going through that route and we couldn't make it. I had to cross through 10,000 people or more to get to the point where we were called.
"It was impossible with my two young daughters and my wife."
Mr Ahmadi is prepared to seize any opportunity to get his family, who are all Irish citizens, out of the country.
He said: “I will take any opportunity to get my kids out of this chaos.
“The options that I have are, I went to the embassy there to see if I can get access for a transit visa and we will travel there but I am not sure that is going to happen.
"So basically any opportunity that I see I will run for it.”
Mr Ahmad spent 12 hours trying to get to Irish embassy staff in Kabul but he hasn’t been in contact with embassy staff since his first attempt.
“I don’t want to risk my life again through that route,” he said.
He also mentioned that he has family members who worked for the previous government – which could make them targets for the Taliban.
“Simply, everybody is at-risk at this stage,” he said.
“I mean nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs is currently working with 65 Irish citizens and residents trapped in Afghanistan.
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