Afghan pilot, who gave his helicopter to the Taliban after the fall of Kabul, explains: ‘I do not regret it, I will continue to serve my country’

Momand joined the Afghan army in 2009 and was sent to the grueling American Military Academy in New York for a four-year training program.

He was then deployed to Herat, in western Afghanistan, where he would fly Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters.

“At the end of 2018, a group of young pilots were selected to fly Black Hawk helicopters,” said Momand, adding that he is also on this team.

Black Hawk helicopters were used in munitions and transport roles.

Momand was in Mazar-e-Sharif in 2021 when US President Biden announced that all troops would leave Afghanistan before the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

In July, the day of departure was moved to August 31.

The United States and its allies had spent billions of dollars on training and ammunition for Afghan military forces to drive the Taliban away when they left the country.

It was a dream that would never come true.

The Afghan army lost control of the country to the Taliban.

The Taliban spread to rural areas of the country in July. On August 6, the first provincial center fell.

After capturing many provincial areas, the Taliban took Kabul without difficulty on 15 August.

The Taliban defeated the last resistance on September 7 in the Panjshir Valley, north of the capital.

Momand’s six-month stint in Mazar-i-Sharif ended in July as the country plunged into chaos.

He returned to Kabul Air Base on 14 August.

There was a tense atmosphere, rumors circulating that political and military leaders had fled.

The Taliban were just outside of Kabul. The airport was under the control of the US Military Forces, but it was questionable how long security would last.

“Our air force commander ordered all pilots to flee. He directed us to Uzbekistan,” Momand says.

Momand was angry with this order and decided not to obey it.

“My commander was forcing me to betray my country, why would I obey such an order? Treason is the worst crime. That’s why I didn’t obey the order,” Momand adds.

“My father warned that he would never forgive me if I left the country. He said that the helicopter belonged to Afghanistan and should not leave the country”.

The area where Momand lived fell into the hands of the Taliban.

His father spoke to the local administrator. He was told that no one would be harmed if the helicopter was delivered.

Momand thought of an escape plan. But first he had to clear the biggest obstacle to the flight path:

“Every Black Hawk helicopter has a four-man flight crew. I knew I couldn’t trust them. I knew they wouldn’t join me. They could hurt me, or even the helicopter.

“I told the Air Force Commander that the helicopter had a technical problem and I couldn’t fly it. When they heard this, all three of them boarded another helicopter preparing to go to Uzbekistan.”

After all the other helicopters had taken off, Momand flew solo towards Kuner for 30 minutes:

“The Americans were controlling air traffic. I told them on the radio that I was going to Uzbekistan. When I left the airport, I changed my radar mode and went to Kuner.

“I landed in a village close to my home. After getting assurances from the Taliban, I dropped the helicopter in a place where helicopters used to be refueled.”

Stating that he has no regrets, Momand says that his family and friends support this decision.

Noting that he has the option to leave Afghanistan with his wife and children, Momand emphasizes that he still prefers to stay.

Momand states that the American military advisers texted him three times and said that they could evacuate him with his family even if he could not bring the helicopter, and he did not accept this offer.

By the end of June 2021, the Afghan Air Force had 167 aircraft, including attack helicopters and planes, according to the US-based Afghanistan Special Inspector General for Reconstruction (SIGAR).

Some of these aircraft were flown by Momand’s colleagues.

On August 16, Uzbekistan’s Termez Airport hosted dozens of helicopters, including MI-17s, MI-25s, Black Hawks, some A-29 and a C-208.

American forces did their best to sabotage many of the planes and helicopters they left in Kabul.

It is not known with certainty how many of those that remain in Afghanistan at the moment can be used.

“Now we have seven Black Hawk helicopters available. Afghan engineers are able to repair them with limited resources. Step by step, other Black Hawks will come into use,” says Momand.

Saying that his friends who blindly follow orders have done great harm to Afghanistan, Momand adds:

“Those who fled to Uzbekistan with their helicopters disappointed the country. Those helicopters belonged to our country. They were very expensive helicopters. I don’t think we can ever get those helicopters back”.

During his training in the US, Momand was told that training a helicopter pilot cost six million dollars.

Momand still treasures his first day of flight in the USA and cares deeply about the chance given to him:

“I was very happy and excited. I could not have predicted that I would live a day like this in my entire life”.

During his four years in the US, he never visited his family in Afghanistan.

During this time he was trained to fight the Taliban, but now uses a Black Hawk helicopter for his government. Yet he sees no contradiction in this:

“Governments change all the time. People like us depend on and serve their nation. The military should not be involved in politics. The country has invested in a lot of people like me.”

Although the Taliban has been ruling the country for a year, no country has officially acknowledged its legitimacy.

Despite this, Momand is determined:

“I will continue to serve my nation until the last day of my life”.