“Mr. President, It Is Time”: Inside the Fall of Kabul

Ever since he can remember, Hamdullah Mohib has just wanted to go home. As a child, he and his family were forced to flee Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Years of violent civil war followed, as well as the U.S.-led invasion to remove the Taliban from power in 2001. All this time, Hamdullah dreamed of one day returning to Afghanistan to help bring peace to the unstable region. When he was tapped to become the country’s National Security Advisor, he thought he finally had his chance. 

That all changed in August 2021: the U.S. pulled its troops for good. The Taliban took back the country. And Hamdullah – once again – had to flee. 

One year since the fall of Kabul, Hamdullah is still struggling to come to terms with the fate of the country he loves. In this episode of VICE News Reports, Dr. Mohib sits down for a candid conversation with VICE World News senior producer Adam Desiderio to explain what happened in the final hours leading up to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul. 

This story was reported by Adam Desiderio and produced by Julia Nutter. Editing by Stephanie Kariuki. 

VICE News Reports is produced by Sophie Kazis and Adriana Tapia. Our senior producers are Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Janice Llamoca, and Julia Nutter. Our supervising producer is Ashley Cleek. Our associate producers are Steph Brown, Sam Eagan, and Adreanna Rodriguez. 

Sound design and music composition by Steve Bone, Pran Bandi, and Kyle Murdock. 

Our executive producers are Adizah Eghan and Stephanie Kariuki.

Annie Aviles is our Executive Editor and Janet Lee is Senior Production Manager for VICE Audio. Fact Checking by Nicole Pasulka. Our theme music is by Steve Bone. Our host is Arielle Duhaime-Ross. 

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