Interpreter who helped rescue Joe Biden in 2008 snowstorm escapes Afghanistan with family
- Interpreter joined small military force that rescued Biden, other lawmakers, in 2008 Afghanistan snowstorm
- Aman Khalili and family fled through Pakistan after missing airlift from Kabul, stranding them
After crossing into Pakistan over land, Aman Khalili and his family flew on a US government aircraft to Doha, Qatar, where thousands of refugees from Afghanistan are being processed by US officials for immigration, a State Department spokesperson said.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Khalili, his wife and five children, who were unable to flee in the August emergency airlift following the takeover by the Taliban, escaped the country with the help of Afghan-American and veterans groups.
In 2008 Khalili was working as an interpreter for US forces when then senator Biden and two other lawmakers, Chuck Hagel and John Kerry, visited Afghanistan.
When a snowstorm forced their helicopter to land in a remote area, Khalili joined a small military Quick Reaction Force which drove from Bagram airbase into the mountains to rescue them.