conflicts last member of the religion, a man who was born in the country and considered it his home, has finally left following the terrorism” target=”_blank”>Taliban’s< group who is responsible for last month’s terrorist attack at Kabul’s airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and 169 Afghans.
Kahana said Simentov’s neighbors also pressed him to leave so that their children could join him on the bus out.
Kahana said that Simentov and 29 of his neighbors – nearly all of them women and children – have been taken to a “neighboring country.” They have joined an exodus of tens of thousands of Afghans who have fled since the Taliban retook the country.
FEMALE STUDENT IN AFGHANISTAN ON TALIBAN CONTROL: ‘THEY ARE TRYING TO IMPRISON US ONCE AGAIN’
Kahana said his private security group is reaching out to U.S. and Israeli authorities to find a permanent home for Simentov, whose estranged wife and children live in world-regions.
Born in the western city of Herat in 1959, Simentov always insisted Afghanistan was home. Reporters who visited him over the years found a portly man fond of whiskey, who kept a pet partridge and watched Afghan TV. He observed Jewish dietary restrictions and ran a kebab shop.
The U.S. and its allies organized a massive airlift in the closing days of the 20-year-war, but officials acknowledged that up to 200 American citizens, as well as thousands of Afghans who had aided the war effort, were left behind.
Hebrew manuscripts found in caves in northern Afghanistan indicate a thriving Jewish community existed there at least 1,000 years ago. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan was home to some 40,000 Jews. But the community’s decline began with an exodus to Israel after its creation in 1948.
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The Taliban, like other Islamic militant groups, are hostile to Israel but tolerated the country’s minuscule Jewish community during their previous reign from 1996 to 2001.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
