A baby who was handed to a soldier in the chaos of the American evacuation of Afghanistan has recently joined his family.
His family handed his two-month-old Sohail Ahmadi to an American soldier over a fence. The family aimed to protect him from the crush as thousands pushed to get into Kabul airport.
But once his family were inside, Sohail, whose father had worked as a security guard at the US embassy, disappeared.
His father Mirza Ali Ahmadi, mother Suraya and their four other children managed later to travel to the US.
They had no idea where their young son was for the past four months.
But after reading a Reuters report on the family’s search for Sohail, in November he was traced to the home of a 29-year-old taxi driver named Hamid Safi.
Baby Finally Found
Mr Safi said he had found Sohail alone and crying on the ground at the airport, the news agency said. After trying to find the boy’s family, he decided to take him home to his wife and children, and raise him as his own son.
They named the infant Mohammad Abed and posted pictures of all the children together on Mr Safi’s Facebook page.
The baby’s grandfather, Mohammad Qasem Razawi, then made a long journey to Kabul to ask for the child.
However, Safi refused to hand the baby over and demanded he and his family also travel to the US, according to Reuters.
After seven weeks of negotiations, the baby joined his grandfather on Saturday, Reuters reported.
His parents celebrated after watching the reunion via video chat.
“There are celebrations, dance, singing,” Mr Razawi said. “It is just like a wedding indeed.”
They hope that Sohail will join them soon in the US state of Michigan.
