PHILADELPHIA — One year ago, Haseeb Payab was in his family’s sprawling, garden-lined home in Kabul that overlooks mountains on all sides, but he was growing ever anxious despite the peaceful setting.
Payab, then deputy director general of Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency, was living with his wife, children, mother, and siblings in the 16-room home when the Taliban took control of the capital on Aug. 15, 2021, setting off a dizzying sequence of events.
Government workers like Payab were sent home. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The U.S. evacuated its embassy.
