Afghan couple accuse US Marine of abducting their baby - The Associated Press - en Español

The young Afghan mates raced to the airdrome successful Kabul, clutching their babe miss adjacent amid the chaotic withdrawal of American troops past year.

The babe had been rescued 2 years earlier from the rubble of a U.S. Special Forces raid that killed her parents and 5 siblings. After months successful a U.S. subject hospital, she had gone to unrecorded with her relative and his wife, this newlywed couple. Now, the household was bound for the United States for further aesculapian treatment, with the assistance of U.S. Marine Corps lawyer Joshua Mast.

When the exhausted Afghans arrived astatine the airdrome successful Washington D.C. successful precocious August 2021, Mast pulled them retired of the planetary arrivals enactment and led them to an inspecting officer, according to a lawsuit they filed past month. They were amazed erstwhile Mast presented an Afghan passport for the child, the mates said. But it was the past sanction printed connected the papers that stopped them cold: Mast.

They didn’t cognize it, but they would soon suffer their baby.

This is simply a communicative astir however 1 U.S. Marine became fiercely determined to bring location an Afghan warfare orphan, and praised it arsenic an enactment of Christian religion to prevention her. Letters, emails and documents submitted successful national filings amusement that helium utilized his presumption successful the U.S. Armed Forces, appealed to high-ranking Trump medication officials and turned to small-town courts to follow the baby, unbeknownst to the Afghan mates raising her 7,000 miles away.

The small girl, present 3 ½ years old, is astatine the halfway of a high-stakes tangle of astatine slightest 4 tribunal cases. The Afghan couple, hopeless to get her back, has sued Joshua and his woman Stephanie Mast. But the Masts importune they are her ineligible parents and “acted admirably” to support her. They’ve asked a national justice to disregard the lawsuit.

The ordeal has drawn successful the U.S. departments of Defense, Justice and State, which person argued that the effort to tone distant a national of different state could importantly harm subject and overseas relations. It has besides meant that a kid who survived a convulsive raid, was hospitalized for months and escaped the autumn of Afghanistan has had to divided her abbreviated beingness betwixt 2 families, some of which present assertion her.

Five days aft the Afghans arrived successful the U.S., they accidental Mast – custody papers successful manus – took her away.

The Afghan pistillate collapsed onto the level and pleaded with the Marine to springiness her babe back. Her hubby said Mast had called him “brother” for months; truthful helium begged him to enactment similar one, with compassion. Instead, the Afghan household claims successful tribunal papers, Mast shoved the antheral and stomped his foot.

That was much than a twelvemonth ago. The Afghan mates hasn’t seen her since.

“After they took her, our tears ne'er stop,” the pistillate told The Associated Press. “Right now, we are conscionable dormant bodies. Our hearts are broken. We person nary plans for a aboriginal without her. Food has nary sensation and slumber gives america nary rest.”

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PULLED FROM THE RUBBLE

The communicative of the babe unfolds successful hundreds of pages of ineligible filings and documents obtained nether the Freedom of Information Act, arsenic good arsenic interviews with those involved, pieced unneurotic successful an AP investigation.

In a national suit filed successful September, the Afghan household accuses the Masts of mendacious imprisonment, conspiracy, fraud and assault. The household has asked the tribunal to shield their individuality retired of concerns for their relatives backmost successful Afghanistan, and they communicated with AP connected the information of remaining anonymous.

The Masts telephone the Afghan family’s claims “outrageous, unmerited attacks” connected their integrity. They reason successful court filings that they person worked “to support the kid from physical, intelligence oregon affectional harm.” They accidental the Afghan mates are “not her lawful parents,” and Mast’s lawyer formed uncertainty connected whether the Afghans were adjacent related to the baby.

“Joshua and Stephanie Mast person done thing but guarantee she receives the aesculapian attraction she requires, astatine large idiosyncratic disbursal and sacrifice, and supply her a loving home,” wrote the Masts’ attorneys.

The baby’s individuality has been kept private, listed lone arsenic Baby L oregon Baby Doe. The Afghan mates had fixed the babe an Afghan name; the Masts gave her an American one.

Originally from Florida, Joshua Mast joined his woman Stephanie and attended Liberty University, an evangelical Christian assemblage successful Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated successful 2008, and got his instrumentality grade determination successful 2014.

In 2019, they were surviving with their sons successful Palmyra, a tiny agrarian Virginia town, erstwhile Joshua Mast was sent connected a impermanent duty to Afghanistan. Mast, past a skipper successful the U.S. Marine Corps, was a subject lawyer for the national Center for Law and Military Operations. The U.S. Marines declined to remark publicly, on with different national officials.

That September successful 2019 was 1 of the deadliest months of the full U.S. concern successful Afghanistan, with much than 110 civilians killed successful the archetypal week alone.

On Sept. 6, 2019, the U.S. attacked a distant compound.

No details astir this lawsuit are publically available, but successful court documents Mast claims that classified reports amusement the U.S. authorities “sent helicopters afloat of peculiar operators to seizure oregon kill” a overseas fighter. Mast said that alternatively than surrender, a antheral detonated a termination vest; 5 of his six children successful the country were killed, and their parent was changeable to decease portion resisting arrest.

Sehla Ashai and Maya Eckstein, attorneys for the Afghan couple, quality Mast’s account. They accidental the baby’s parents were really farmers, unaffiliated with immoderate violent group. And they described the lawsuit arsenic a calamity that near 2 guiltless civilians and 5 of their children dead.

Both sides hold that erstwhile the particulate settled, U.S. troops pulled the severely injured babe from the rubble. The babe had a fractured skull, breached limb and superior burns.

She was astir 2 months old.

Mast called the babe a “victim of terrorism.” His lawyer said she “miraculously survived.”

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“DO THE RIGHT THING”

The babe was rushed to a subject hospital, wherever she was placed successful the attraction of the Defense Department.

The International Committee of the Red Cross told AP that they began searching for her household with the Afghan government, often a plodding process successful agrarian parts of the state wherever record-keeping is scant. At first, they didn’t adjacent cognize the baby’s name.

Meanwhile, Mast said, helium was “aggressively” advocating to get her to the U.S. Over respective months, helium wrote to then-Vice President Mike Pence’s office, according to exhibits filed successful court. He said his colleagues successful the subject tried to speech to President Donald Trump astir the babe during a Thanksgiving sojourn to Bagram Airfield. Mast besides said helium made 4 requests implicit 2 weeks to then-White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, asking for assistance to medically evacuate the babe “to beryllium treated successful a harmless environment.”

The Masts were represented by Joshua’s member Richard Mast, an lawyer with the blimpish Christian ineligible radical Liberty Counsel, which says it is not progressive successful this case. None of the Masts responded to repeated requests for interviews.

In emails to subject officials, Mast alleged that Pence told the U.S. Embassy successful Kabul to “make each effort” to get her to the United States. Mast signed his emails with a Bible verse: “’Live for an Audience of one, for we indispensable each look earlier the judgement spot of Christ.”

Pence’s spokesman, Marc Short, did not respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Embassy ne'er heard from Pence’s office, said a Department of State official, who requested anonymity due to the fact that they did not person support to talk publically astir the situation. But they did statesman getting highly antithetic inquiries astir the anticipation of sending the babe to the U.S. The diplomats were rattled by the proposition that the U.S. could conscionable instrumentality her away; they believed the babe belonged to Afghanistan.

“I was alert that it whitethorn not beryllium creaseless sailing ahead, but that conscionable made maine much determined to bash the close thing,” the State Department authoritative said.

About six weeks aft the babe was rescued, the U.S. Embassy called for a meeting, attended by representatives of the Red Cross, the Afghan authorities and the American military, including Mast. The State Department wanted to marque definite everyone understood its position: Under planetary humanitarian law, the U.S. was obliged to bash everything imaginable to reunite the babe with her adjacent of kin.

At the meeting, Mast asked astir adoption, the State Department authoritative said. Attendees from Afghanistan’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs explained that by Afghan instrumentality and custom, they had to spot the babe with her biologic family. If that did not work, the Afghan Children’s Court would find a due guardian.

The American conception of adoption doesn’t adjacent beryllium successful Afghanistan. Under Islamic law, a child’s bloodline cannot beryllium severed and their practice is sacred. Instead of adoption, a guardianship strategy called kafala allows Muslims to instrumentality successful orphans and rise them arsenic family, without relinquishing the child’s sanction oregon bloodline.

American adoptions from Afghanistan are uncommon and lone imaginable for Muslim-American families of Afghan descent. The State Department recognizes 14 American adoptions from Afghanistan implicit the past decade, nary successful the past 2 years.

Yet 2 days aft the embassy meeting, a missive was sent to U.S. officials successful Kabul from Kimberley Motley, a near-celebrity American lawyer successful Afghanistan, the State Department authoritative said. Motley wrote that she was representing an unnamed acrophobic American national who wished to follow this baby. Motley declined to beryllium interviewed by the AP.

Mast besides continued his appeals to American politicians. The U.S. Embassy began proceeding from Congressional staffers astir the baby, and diplomats met with a subject general, the authoritative said.

The wide successful crook enactment a “gag order” connected subject unit astir the babe and said “no 1 was to advocator connected her behalf,” Mast wrote successful a legal filing.

But helium wasn’t acceptable to springiness up.

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HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD

The Masts searched for a solution halfway astir the satellite — successful agrarian Fluvanna County, Virginia, wherever they lived.

They petitioned the section Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, describing the babe arsenic a “stateless insignificant recovered disconnected the battlefield.” In aboriginal November 2019, a justice granted them ineligible custody. The sanction of this justice is not publically disposable due to the fact that juvenile records are sealed successful Virginia.

A fewer days later, a certificate of overseas commencement listed Joshua and Stephanie Mast arsenic parents.

The custody bid was based connected the Masts’ assertion that the Afghan authorities — specifically now-deposed President Ashraf Ghani — intended to waive jurisdiction implicit the kid “in a substance of days,” according to a hearing transcript. The waiver ne'er arrived.

In an email to AP, Ghani’s erstwhile lawman main of unit Suhrob Ahmad said determination is “no grounds of this alleged connection of waiver of Afghan jurisdiction.” Ahmad said helium and the caput of the Administrative Office of the President bash not retrieve immoderate specified petition going done the tribunal strategy arsenic required.

The U.S. Embassy heard that Mast was granted custody. Military lawyers assured them that the Marine was conscionable preparing successful lawsuit Afghanistan waived jurisdiction, but would not interfere with the hunt for the baby’s family, according to the State Department official.

Yet each on they planned to follow the baby, according to records obtained from the authorities of Virginia nether a Freedom of Information Act request. Richard Mast wrote the Attorney General’s bureau successful November 2019 that the Masts “will record for adoption arsenic soon arsenic statutorily possible.”

In the meantime, Joshua Mast enrolled the babe successful the Defense Department wellness attraction system, made an appointment astatine a U.S. International Adoption Clinic and asked to person her evacuated.

Then came a surprise: The Red Cross said they’d recovered her family. She was astir 5 months old.

In precocious 2019, Afghan officials told the U.S. Embassy that the baby’s paternal uncle had been identified, and helium decided his lad and daughter-in-law were champion suited to instrumentality her, according to tribunal records. They were young, educated newlyweds with nary children yet of their own, and lived successful a metropolis with entree to hospitals.

The young antheral worked successful a aesculapian bureau and ran a co-ed school, which is antithetic successful Afghanistan. His woman graduated from precocious schoolhouse astatine the apical of her class, and is fluent successful 3 languages, including English. They had joined for love, dissimilar galore Afghans successful arranged marriages.

Mast expressed doubts astir the newly-found uncle, describing him successful tribunal records arsenic “an anonymous idiosyncratic of chartless nationality” and claiming that turning the babe implicit to him was “inherently dangerous.” He asked the Red Cross to enactment him successful touch, but they refused.

In emails to a U.S. subject bureau requesting evacuation, Mast alleged that helium work much than 150 pages of classified documents, and concluded the kid was a “stateless minor.” Mast believed she was the girl of transient terrorists who are citizens of nary country, his lawyer said. He besides speculated that if reunited with her family, she could beryllium made a kid worker oregon a termination bomber, sold into enactment trafficking, deed successful a U.S. subject strike, oregon stoned for being a girl.

But Afghanistan did not waver: the kid was a national of their country.

Mast’s lawyer sent the U.S. Embassy a “cease and desist” missive informing them not to manus the babe over, according to the State Department official. But connected February 26, 2020, the Masts learned that the U.S. was preparing to enactment the baby, present astir 8 months old, connected a level aboriginal the pursuing greeting to articulation her household successful different Afghan city.

The Masts, represented by Richard Mast, sued the secretaries of Defense and State successful a national tribunal successful Virginia, asking for an exigency restraining bid to halt them. The Masts claimed they were the baby’s “lawful imperishable ineligible guardians.”

Within hours, 4 national attorneys — 2 from the Justice Department and 2 from the U.S. Attorney’s Office — were connected the phone, and Richard Mast was successful Federal Judge Norman Moon’s office.

Richard Mast said the babe should not beryllium “condemned to suffer.” He complained that the Afghan authorities had not conducted DNA investigating to corroborate the household they recovered was genuinely related to the child.

But the Justice Department attorneys said they had nary close to mandate however the Afghan authorities vets the family, and that the Red Cross — which has reunited relatives successful warfare zones for much than a period — had confirmed it was done properly. Further, the national government’s attorneys described the Masts’ custody documents from authorities tribunal arsenic “unlawful,” “deeply flawed and incorrect,” and “issued connected a mendacious premise that has ne'er happened” — that Afghanistan would waive jurisdiction.

Judge Moon asked Richard Mast: “Your lawsuit is not asking to follow the child?”

“No sir,” Mast responded. “He wants to get her aesculapian attraction successful the United States.”

Justice Department attorneys argued that the United States indispensable conscionable its planetary obligations. Attorney Alexander Haas enactment it simply: Taking different country’s national to the United States “would person perchance profound implications connected our subject and overseas affairs interests.”

Judge Moon ruled against the Masts, and the babe stayed successful Afghanistan.

The adjacent day, she was agreed with her biologic family. The Afghan mates wept with joy.

“We didn’t deliberation she would travel backmost to her household alive,” said the young Afghan man. “It was the champion time of our lives. After a agelong time, she had a accidental to person a household again.”

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AN EXTRA MEASURE OF TENDERNESS

As the months passed successful her caller location successful Afghanistan, the miss loved getting henna painted connected her hands and dressing up successful caller clothes, the Afghan mates said. She ever wanted to bash her caller mother’s makeup, oregon brushwood her hair.

“She knew astir Allah, astir clothes, astir the names of food,” the pistillate wrote.

The mates cared for her arsenic if she was their ain daughter, but with an other measurement of tenderness due to the fact that of the unimaginable calamity she’d already suffered.

“We ne'er wanted her to consciousness she couldn’t person thing she wanted,” said the young man.

Meanwhile, Mast continued to interest that the kid was “in an objectively unsafe situation,” Richard Mast wrote successful tribunal documents. The Masts asked Kimberley Motley, the attorney, to way down the family, saying helium wanted to get the kid aesculapian attraction successful the U.S, Motley said successful tribunal records.

Motley contacted the Afghan household successful March 2020, astir a week aft the babe was placed successful her caller home. Motley is named arsenic a suspect successful their lawsuit, but her attorney, Michael Hoernlein, told AP the claims against her are “meritless.” In court documents, Motley’s attorneys picture her relation arsenic nonrecreational and above-board, and asked that the claims against her beryllium dismissed.

Motley had primitively gone to Afghanistan successful 2008 nether an American-funded inaugural to bid section lawyers. She stayed, mostly representing foreigners charged with crimes. She took connected high-profile quality rights cases, gave a TED Talk and wrote a book.

Over the people of a year, Motley called for updates astir the kid and occasionally asked for photos. In July, astir the baby’s archetypal birthday, the mates sent Motley a snapshot of the kid successful aquatics trunks, smiling and splashing successful a wading pool.

At the aforesaid time, the Masts’ adoption lawsuit was inactive winding done the tribunal strategy successful Fluvanna County, Virginia. In December 2020, the authorities tribunal granted the Masts a last adoption bid based connected the uncovering that the kid “remains up to this constituent successful clip an orphaned, undocumented, stateless minor,” according to a national lawsuit. Fluvanna County Circuit Court Presiding Judge Richard E. Moore did not respond to repeated requests for clarity connected however the cases progressed.

International adoption lawyers were baffled.

“If you person relatives determination who are saying, ‘no, no, no, we privation our daughter, we privation our small girl,’ it’s over,” said Irene Steffas, an adoption and migration attorney. “There is nary mode the U.S. is going to get into a lucifer with different state erstwhile it comes to a kid that’s a national of that country.”

Karen Law, a Virginia lawyer who specializes successful planetary adoption, said authorities instrumentality requires an accredited bureau to sojourn 3 times implicit six months and compile a study earlier an adoption tin beryllium finalized. The kid indispensable beryllium contiguous for the visits — but this babe was thousands of miles away.

On July 10, 2021, astir the baby’s 2nd birthday, Motley facilitated the archetypal telephone telephone betwixt the Afghan mates and Joshua Mast, with the assistance translator Ahmad Osmani, a Baptist pastor of Afghan descent. Mast told the Afghan mates that unless they sent the kid to the United States for aesculapian care, she could “be blind, encephalon damaged, and/or permanently physically disabled.”

But the Afghan antheral present raising her, who had worked successful the aesculapian field, did not deliberation her pain scars, a limb wounded and mysterious allergic reactions amounted to a life-altering information successful the mode Mast described. The mates declined sending the babe to the United States.

The pistillate was pregnant, and disquieted astir the hazard of specified a agelong flight. They said they asked Mast: Could they instrumentality the babe to Pakistan oregon India for attraction instead?

The reply was no, their suit says. The conversations continued for months. Osmani, the translator, vouched for the Masts and described them arsenic benignant and trustworthy, according to the lawsuit, which names him arsenic a defendant.

Osmani did not respond to requests for comment. He asked a national justice to propulsion retired the lawsuit, and said helium ne'er deceived anyone. He was lone a “mere translator.”

His attorneys wrote: “No bully deed goes unpunished.”

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“LIVING IN A DARK JAIL”

In precocious summertime 2021, the Taliban seized powerfulness successful Afghanistan. Mast said helium contacted the household to bring the babe to the U.S. “before the state collapsed.” He said helium was “extremely acrophobic that they whitethorn not get different chance.” The mates agreed.

Mast applied for peculiar visas for the Afghan household and for relatives of Osmani, the translator, according to tribunal records. They characterized the Afghan mates arsenic an escort for a “U.S. subject dependent” — the baby.

In an email to U.S. officials filed successful court, Mast wrote that Osmani was “very instrumental to helping a U.S. Marine…adopt an Afghan child.”

Soon, the Afghan household began their days-long travel to the U.S. Joshua Mast told them to accidental helium was their lawyer.

“If anyone asks to speech astir your documents, amusement them this text: I americium Major Joshua Mast, USMC. I americium a Judge Advocate…” Mast texted them elaborate directions for however to woody with U.S. authorities, their suit says.

When the household arrived successful Germany for a stopover, Joshua Mast and his woman greeted them astatine the aerial unit base. It was the archetypal clip they had met successful person.

In Germany, the Masts visited the Afghan family’s country 3 times to effort to get the babe to question separately with them, “insisting that it would beryllium easier for the toddler to participate the United States that way,” the Afghan mates recalled successful their lawsuit. They refused to fto the miss retired of their sight.

When the Afghans yet landed successful the United States, they began explaining that the kid was excessively young to person Afghan documents. That’s erstwhile they assertion Joshua Mast pulled retired an Afghan passport.

Inside was the aforesaid photograph of the kid successful the wading pool, but altered to alteration the background, adhd a garment and creaseless her hair. Mast told the Afghans to “keep quiet” astir having his sanction connected her passport, their suit alleges, truthful it would beryllium easier to get aesculapian care.

The Afghan mates asked to beryllium taken to Fort Pickett Army National Guard base, a determination specified by Mast, according to the lawsuit. Thousands of Afghan refugees were temporarily housed there.

Soon after, they said, soldiers came to their country and told them they were moving. A unusual pistillate sat successful the backmost of the van adjacent to a car seat, according to tribunal records, and the babe fussed arsenic she buckled her in.

The van pulled up to a gathering they didn’t recognize, wherever a pistillate who called herself a societal idiosyncratic said the Masts were the girl’s ineligible guardians. Confused and frightened, the kid cried and the mates begged.

But it did nary good. Mast took the babe to his car, wherever his woman was waiting, the suit says.

They had mislaid her.

In their heavy redacted effect to the lawsuit, the Masts admit they “took custody” of the child; they said their adoption bid was valid and they did thing wrong.

Richard Mast is besides named arsenic a suspect successful the Afghan family’s lawsuit. He wrote successful legal documents that his brother’s adoption of the kid was “selfless;” it saved some the child, and the Afghan household warring to get her back, “from the evils of beingness nether the Taliban.”

The Afghan mates believed that their babe was stolen, and they instantly sought assistance astatine Fort Pickett to get her back.

“But the playing tract was not level,” their attorney, Ashai, told the AP. The mates “were forced to navigate a analyzable and confusing strategy successful a overseas state successful which they had conscionable arrived, aft having survived the top trauma of their lives.”

Meanwhile, the mates says successful tribunal documents, Osmani warned them not to interaction a lawyer oregon the authorities, and suggested that Mast mightiness springiness them the babe backmost if they dealt straight with him.

And truthful they tried to support interaction with Mast. They were besides frightened of him. If helium could abduct their kid successful wide daylight, they disquieted helium mightiness wounded them too, their lawyers wrote successful ineligible filings.

The Afghan pistillate plunged into a heavy slump and, contempt being 9 months pregnant, stopped eating and drinking. She could not sleep. Her hubby was acrophobic to permission her alone.

“Since we person travel to America, we person not felt happiness for adjacent 1 day,” the Afghan antheral told the AP. “We consciousness similar we are surviving successful a acheronian jail.”

His woman gave commencement to a miss connected October 1, 2021. The young mother’s grief became overwhelming. A period later, she considered termination and was hospitalized.

Soon the mates sought ineligible help; by December 2021, the Afghan mates had asked the Fluvanna justice to reverse the adoption. But those proceedings, astir 1 twelvemonth in, person been opaque and slow.

On Feb. 27, 2022, erstwhile the Afghan babe was 2 ½ years old, the Masts traveled to the Mennonite Christian Assembly successful Fredericksburg, Ohio, to stock their joyousness during a peculiar church service. In a video advertizing the lawsuit called “Walking successful Faith,” the pastor apologized to congregants that it would not beryllium online, due to the fact that the Marine would stock “very confidential, classified information.”

“Unforeseen events gave the mates an unexpected accidental to basal up to support guiltless life,” work the programme flyer. “Come perceive however God’s mighty manus allowed for a singular deliverance.”

Pastor John Risner told the AP that the Masts had requested the work beryllium confidential, and helium didn’t privation to betray their spot by disclosing immoderate details.

All helium would accidental is that their communicative is “amazing.”

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NO HAPPINESS HERE

The destiny of the Afghan kid is present being debated successful concealed proceedings successful a locked courtroom successful the colony of Palmyra, Virginia, location to astir 100 people.

Earlier this month, Joshua Mast arrived astatine the Fluvanna County courthouse on with his woman and his member Richard. Mast was dressed successful his starched Marine uniform, holding his achromatic and golden chapeau successful his hand. The proceeding stretched connected for astir 8 hours.

The proceedings person been wholly shielded from nationalist view, mandated by presiding Judge Moore. The AP was not allowed wrong the courtroom. Court clerk Tristana Treadway refused to supply adjacent the docket number, saying she could “neither corroborate nor deny” the lawsuit existed astatine all.

More than a twelve lawyers streamed into the courthouse, carting boxes of evidence, and each said they were forbidden from speaking.

Mast remains an progressive work Marine, and has since been promoted to major. He present lives with his household successful North Carolina. The Afghan toddler has been with them for much than a year.

In Texas, the Afghan mates continues to grieve the nonaccomplishment of the child. The babe the pistillate gave commencement to soon aft arriving successful the U.S. conscionable turned 1. The young parent had planned to rise the girls arsenic sisters.

But they’ve ne'er met.

“There is thing to observe without her. There is nary happiness here,” the Afghan antheral said. “We are counting the moments and days until she volition travel home.”

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Retired Associated Press Afghanistan and Pakistan Bureau Chief Kathy Gannon, AP researcher Rhonda Shafner and AP Pentagon newsman Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.

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Follow the authors connected Twitter @julietlinderman, @clairegalofaro, @mendozamartha