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"They said they were going to look for LGBT+ people. They had names, they had addresses, they were searching homes, stopping people on the street."
Ali* has spent his life being cautious. If officials in his home country of Afghanistan ever found out he was bisexual, he could have been arrested and taken to court.
But when the Taliban seized control of the country a year ago, he knew he had to leave. Under their interpretation of Sharia law, homosexuality is punishable by death.
Almost overnight, people like Ali began being actively hunted.
"They are not primitive like you think they are. They can hack phones, they can look at your messages, even a simple song could have been enough to get you in trouble," he said.
Shortly after the Taliban regained power, Ali and about 30 others were evacuated in a highly secret mission, organised by the UK government and charities, which BBC News can reveal details of for the first time.
Ali* has spent his life being cautious. If officials in his home country of Afghanistan ever found out he was bisexual, he could have been arrested and taken to court.
But when the Taliban seized control of the country a year ago, he knew he had to leave. Under their interpretation of Sharia law, homosexuality is punishable by death.
Almost overnight, people like Ali began being actively hunted.
"They are not primitive like you think they are. They can hack phones, they can look at your messages, even a simple song could have been enough to get you in trouble," he said.
Shortly after the Taliban regained power, Ali and about 30 others were evacuated in a highly secret mission, organised by the UK government and charities, which BBC News can reveal details of for the first time.
The secret mission to save LGBT Afghans
Posted from bbc.com
LGBTQ+
Afghanistan
United Kingdom
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Everyone was desperately trying to find any way to get out of Afghanistan because it was the only chance to stay alive," the former youth worker says.
He remembers hearing of people "rushing" to the airports - but at first was too frightened to leave himself.
"I was hiding in a small room [at home] and I found out there was an organisation helping LGBTQ people."
After finding out more information online, he got in touch and was given a place on an evacuation flight. It was here that he started to realise there were others like him.
"Everyone was shocked and frightened and then it was something like gay-dar - we were noticing who was gay on the plane."...
...""Everyone was desperately trying to find any way to get out of Afghanistan because it was the only chance to stay alive," the former youth worker says.
He remembers hearing of people "rushing" to the airports - but at first was too frightened to leave himself.
"I was hiding in a small room [at home] and I found out there was an organisation helping LGBTQ people."
After finding out more information online, he got in touch and was given a place on an evacuation flight. It was here that he started to realise there were others like him.
"Everyone was shocked and frightened and then it was something like gay-dar - we were noticing who was gay on the plane."...
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